


Catch Me If You Can

by MilkTeaMiku



Series: Seven Days [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-26 22:11:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7592218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilkTeaMiku/pseuds/MilkTeaMiku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pidge's modification doesn't work against the Galra blast.</p><p>This time Keith is turned into a baby and Lance is incredibly enthusiastic about it. Keith? Not so much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Keith grunted as a blast hit his hand-held shield. He looked like he was sweating in his suit, his bayard activated, as he tried to keep his feet beneath him. It wouldn’t be long now before Lance got the advantage, he was sure. Shots were ricocheting around the room from every direction, singeing the floor and creating burn marks on their legs were their shields just couldn’t quite reach and when they were just a fraction too slow to dodge. 

“Lance, cut it out already!” Keith shouted over the top of his shield. A blast tore into it again and Keith visibly winced as his arm took the brunt of the attack. With a frustrated cry he charged forwards, ducking out of the way of another blaster shot as he swung his sword up. It clattered against Lance’s shield and Lance groaned at the weight behind the attack. He stumbled backwards, unable to endure the force of Keith’s swing. It left Keith panting. “You had enough yet? I swear, Lance…”

Lance gave him a breathless laugh and lowered his bayard. “Just admit it, I totally won that round.”

“Lance, I’ve won all of them.”

“You have not!” Lance squawked indignantly. “I’ve won more than you!”

Keith scowled at him. “You have _not.”_

“Oh I definitely did,” Lance argued, grinning broadly at Keith’s petulant expression. “Admit it, I’m awesome.”

Keith rolled his eyes. It was meant to be an offensive action, but Lance thought it was a good look on him. The whole _I hate you but secretly like you_ attitude was strong in this one.

“Alright,” Lance finally relented, flipping a hand nonchalantly, “if you’re so tired that you wanna quit, I’ll play along. Race you to the showers!”

“What, no- _Lance get back here that wasn’t a fair start!”_

 

It’d been a month since Lance re-grew. He’d finally started feeling comfortable in his own skin again and no longer found himself suddenly overwhelmed by raw, childish emotions. He’d come to understand that children were completely different from adolescents and adults in more than the obvious ways; they experienced emotions differently, and did not have the same emotional range as someone older than them. From what he remembered, he only had a few, basic instincts; _feed me, entertain me,_ and _comfort me._ He cried until he got what he wanted and that was that.

Most of the time, he’d wanted Keith.

As he was now, it was very different. Well, not the wanting Keith part. He was capable of getting his own food and entertaining himself whenever the desire struck, and now knew where to find comfort. He was aware of consequences and implications and how others would react to him and had gained some sort of social etiquette that one only acquired as they grew. 

Being stuck as a baby for a week had made that all very clear to him.

More than that, however, was how he perceived his relationship with the other Paladins. He knew most of what had happened – had been shown pictures, too, though Keith didn’t know about that just yet – and he felt closer to them than ever. Closer to _Keith,_ as well, which was pretty damn nice. His _Mamá_ would be so proud of him, for sure; he’d fallen for a great person. _And_ Keith was super pretty, even if he didn’t know it! What more could a simple guy like Lance want for himself?

Alright, sure, peace in the universe might have been pretty high on his wish list too, but nothing was currently above Keith.

That evening after dinner, Lance caught himself thinking about Keith again. He did that a lot – yeah, they spent a lot of time together these days, but not all the time. They were both inexperienced and clueless, and if Lance were willing to admit it, nervous. Sometimes, they just needed their own company. He didn’t want to mess anything up and his competitiveness all but assured he would so he was trying to take things carefully. 

Keith was in the observatory room again, eyes cast out to stare at the stars. He liked to wonder off without announcing it, but Lance always found him. If he wasn’t on the training deck or in his room, then he was here. Lance didn’t know what out there in the skies had Keith so intrigued – he’d asked, once, but Keith had gotten too flustered to answered and had scowled at him for the rest of the evening.

“You like this room a lot, huh?” Lance said as he took a seat on the floor beside Keith. “Doesn’t it make your butt cold to sit here for so long?”

Keith shrugged a shoulder. Lance’s eyes were drawn to the way it ruffled his stupid mullet. That mullet hid a really pretty neck with pretty pale skin and Lance felt cheated. “Why, does it bother you?”

“No,” Lance answered. His instincts always told him to one-up Keith but he was slowly working his way out of that habit. It wasn’t _conducive_ to a _healthy relationship,_ apparently (Shiro’s words, not his; Lance thought a big of competitiveness was great fun). “You thinking about something important up in that head of yours?”

“Not really,” Keith said. “Just thinking.”

Lance frowned. “I don’t understand you sometimes,” he said, his voice warm. “You’re not thinking, but you’re thinking.”

“I’m sorry if my superior way of thinking confuses your small, pea-sized brain.”

“Yeah, well you’re… You’re way of thinking is as small as your pea-sized brain!” Lance retorted. _That was a good one._

Keith snorted at him, and shook his head. “You’re as stupid as always, Lance.”

Lance pouted and twisted to press himself against Keith’s chest, leaning right into his space. Keith fell back with a small, winded noise and frowned at him as Lance rested his chin on Keith’s collarbones. “You don’t really think that,” he declared, batting his eyelashes up at Keith the way he knew would get Keith unnecessarily riled up.

Predictably, Keith turned his head away to hide his flushed cheeks. “I don’t,” he muttered in agreement. He didn’t push Lance away.

Lance lifted a hand, pressed his palm against Keith’s cheek. His skin was hot to touch but not unpleasantly so, and when Lance tilted Keith’s face back towards him Keith was willing to meet his eyes. “What were you thinking about?” Lance asked again. 

Keith sighed, and rested his head back against the floor. Lance made sure to keep a hand between the back of Keith’s head and the cold metal surface. In much the same way, Keith lifted a hand to run his fingers through Lance’s hair like it grounded him. “I was thinking about your family,” he whispered. “We saw them in your memories.”

Lance knew about that – they’d told him, of course. While he wasn’t ashamed of his family and was more than happy to share stories of them with the Paladins, it still felt weird to know they’d seen what he’d seen. Not unwelcome or upsetting, but definitely weird. “What about them?”

Keith shrugged again. It was a hesitant action, like he was feeling guilty about something, and it made Lance squint at him.

He couldn’t possibly know what Keith was thinking if he didn’t share, but Lance wouldn’t press him if he was having private thoughts. Lance had a big, loving family and he knew that Keith hadn’t ever had the same experience. It made Lance want to give it to him. “When we go back to Earth,” Lance said, “do you wanna meet them? My family, I mean.”

Keith startled, his fingers tightening in Lance’s hair. “R-really…?”

Lance grinned. _Bingo._ “Yeah, they’d love you,” Lance said. _“Mamá_ always said her babies were going to draw in the attractive ones. I swear, _Abuelito_ is gonna like you so much. He always loves anyone the kids bring back – he’s a bit hare-brained sometimes and he’ll try to make you swat flies with your bare hands for him, but he’s a big softie. It’s _Abuela_ you have to watch out for, but only my _Mamá’s_ side of the family.”

Keith was blinking at him the same way he had been when Lance tried to teach him the Voltron cheer. “Abu- abway- what?”

Lance snickered. _“Abuelito_ and _Abuela,_ my grandfather and grandmother. We all live on this big homestead so the family is together all the time. We have our own houses and stuff, but it feels like we live under the same roof. My brothers and sisters are going to harass the heck out of you when you meet them.”

“W-what? Why?” Keith asked, eyes wide.

Grinning, Lance rested his chin on Keith’s chest again, blinking up at him owlishly. “Because you’re hot as hell.”

“Lance!” Keith snapped huffily, his cheeks going red. He shoved Lance off of him and sat him, self-consciously smoothing out his jacket. 

Lance only laughed. “Oh man, I can just imagine all the embarrassing baby photos they’re going to bring out. The family always does when a boyfriend or girlfriend is brought over.”

It still felt really good to call Keith his boyfriend. The word itself brought this giddy feeling of excitement to Lance and made him feel tingly all over. He wondered if Keith felt the same.

“Baby photos…?” Keith asked, glancing at Lance out of the corner of his eyes.

“Yeah,” Lance said. “We have dozens of them.”

Keith hummed, and turned his gaze away. He suddenly looked sad and if Lance hadn’t spent the last month staring at his face whenever they were in the same room he thought he might never had noticed it.

Lance sat up. “You have baby photos of yourself too, don’t you?”

Keith winced. “Maybe,” he said, “I don’t know. I don’t really remember. I mean, there must be some, right? Hidden out in the shack or something…”

He hated seeing Keith sad like this. He didn’t think Keith was even truly sad anymore; that he’d been like this for so long that it no longer registered as sadness. He seemed forlorn and disappointed and it brought such a fierce bitterness to Lance’s heart that he often felt overwhelmed by it. He could do nothing more than comfort Keith in situations like this, and although his helplessness was frustrating, he did exactly that. Keith felt really good tucked into his arms, anyway. “We’ll go find them, then,” he told Keith. “When we get back to Earth. Until then, we’ll just take new photos! That way Mamá will believe me when I tell her you’re my boyfriend and that I’m not tricking her into thinking you are like what my older brothers once did.”

Keith raised a brow. He didn’t look upset anymore, just curious. “What did your brother do?”

Lance grinned. “Oh, the stories I have to tell!”

 

It was the middle of the night when Lance was jarred from sleep by the sound of the castle’s alarm ringing. He tore his sleep mask off his eyes and scrambled out of his bed as fast as he could, letting out a loud shout as he accidentally kicked the bottom of his bed on the way down. That didn’t sound like a drill.

He pulled on his suit and helmet in record time and was running to the hanger bays when Allura’s voice crackled over the communications systems. “There’s a Galra fleet fast approaching,” she said, “get to the Lions as fast as you can! I’m raising the particle barrier as we speak.”

It only took a minute or so before Lance was sliding into place in his Lion. Being back in control of it felt like returning to a familiar place from his childhood. He’d always noticed a deep thrumming sensation that travelled through both the Lion and himself when they were piloting, almost like it was truly alive. He’d tried to explain it to Keith once, but Keith hadn’t understood. Lance just assumed his bond with his Lion was deeper than Keith’s – another competition, though one that didn’t really matter.

The Galra ship had appeared behind Allura’s castle. It loomed above them, easily twice the size of the castle, and steadily charged forwards without any care for the things standing in its way – meaning, _them._ What jerks.

“The main ship isn’t releasing battle ships like they usually do,” Shiro said. His Lion was the largest, and was the one that drifted to stand between them and the Galra ship without any thought or purposeful intention behind it.

“Wait, look,” Pidge said. “They’re sending something out.”

From beneath the main ship, a monster appeared. It was a large and bulky machine with a noticeable blaster canon mounted onto its head, painted dark. Its colouring made it hard to distinguish amongst the blackness of space and if not for his Lion’s homing equipment Lance might not have seen it at all.

“Wait,” Lance said, “that’s-”

The ship was so familiar to him that it made his stomach twist itself into knots. It approached at a speed faster than he could comprehend, and his hands tightened on the Lion’s controls. He knew that ship. He’d tackled it away from the other Paladins before, when it attacked them the first time. 

“Allura, they’re sending the de-aging weapon,” Shiro said. “Should we fall back?”

“Uh, yes!” Lance interrupted. “I don’t want to be turned into a baby again!”

“I agree with Lance,” Hunk said. “Let’s run. Running is good.”

“Pidge, have you installed the buffering device you talked about?” Shiro asked.

Pidge hesitated. “Yes-”

“Then we should be fine.”

“It’s not complete yet,” Pidge said quickly. “I don’t know if it’ll work, there are some kinks that I haven’t smoothed over-”

“We don’t have a choice,” Shiro said. “All we have to do is avoid its blast, and if we don’t, then we hope the equipment Pidge designed works. We can’t let that thing run around the universe. What if they send it to Earth?”

Lance winced. Shiro had a point, and he knew it. He thought of his family having to face something dangerous sent by the Galra and he knew they couldn’t turn away.

“If we can take it out now,” Keith murmured, “then we can salvage its parts and figure out how it works, and it wouldn’t be a problem to us anymore.”

“Unless they build another one,” Hunk cut in. 

“If I can get its parts I can definitely figure out a way to stop it,” Pidge said. “I know I can.”

“Then let’s go.”

Lance urged his Lion forwards. A flash of red caught his eye and instinctively, he followed Keith. Their individual abilities worked well together – he believed that fire and ice were a good match, no matter what anyone else said. 

A sudden blast of burning energy shot right past him. He let out a surprised grunt as he twisted his Lion out of the way. “It’s firing already!”

“We can see that, Lance,” Keith said. “Watch out!”

Lance jerked his Lion out of the way again as another blast ripped through space. _That_ was definitely new – its recharging time was faster. When Lance looked at it loser, he realised why that was; there were two canons this time, one loaded onto the back of the first that spun on a hinge to take aim while the other reloaded. “Great, now they’re updating it?” He complained. 

“Focus, Lance!” Shiro scolded.

Lance pressed his Lion down into a nosedive. The main Galra ship was starting to disperse battle ships now. They swarmed around the ship before making a beeline straight towards the Lions.

“Should we form Voltron?” Hunk asked, concerned.

“No, just focus on taking out what you can,” Shiro said. “If we form Voltron we’ll just be one big target.”

A Galra battle ship whizzed past him. Lance shot after it, his Lion letting out a stream of ice that froze the ship in place. The engine in it stalled and within seconds it exploded, making Lance let out a loud cheer. “One down!”

“Fifty to go,” Keith said.

Behind him, Lance saw Hunk dive after a row of ships shooting at Pidge. He rolled to avoid them before dragging his claws into one and propelling it through the others. Like the ship Lance had attack, those ones imploded, and Hunk was left shaking off the smoke that clung to the Yellow Lion.

Keith let out a jet of flames at the de-aging monstrosity. They scorched its surface but did not pierce its hull and with an irritated growl, Keith spun away. The canons followed him, and out shot a beam of energy that only just scraped off the edge of Red. Lance could hear Keith sucking in a small, short breath of air as he righted his Lion.

Lance watched the monster reload. Its canons were fixed onto the top of its hull and couldn’t aim beneath it; with a vindictive, bitter feeling he angled his Lion accordingly and drove it upwards. He barrelled into the monster from below and tore his claws into its side, tearing away sheets of metal that drifted through space. He couldn’t help but feel angry at the Galra for what they put him through, even if he did get Keith’s affection out of it.

And what if they hurt his family? What if the Galra tracked them down, sent monsters worse than this after them? What if they seriously hurt one of the Paladins? Hurt Keith? He was so _frustrated_ by it all that he didn’t see the rotation device dislodging, didn’t see the canons spinning loosely.

“Lance!” Keith yelled. “Move out of the way!”

The Red Lion crashed into Blue. Lance’s body was almost jerked from his seat as Blue spun out of control. He could hear Keith struggling over the communications line and knew that Red was in just as much trouble.

“Keith, Lance, get out of there!” Shiro shouted. “It’s going to-”

A sudden explosion rocked through the space around them. A blast sent Blue tail-spinning further away and Lance couldn’t help but let out a disoriented shout as he lost control of his Lion. Something abruptly latched onto him and when his spinning vision cleared he realised that Shiro’s Lion had grabbed his around the waist to steady him.

He couldn’t focus on that, though. No, his eyes were glued to Red as the lingering effects of the blast rocked through its head. They were the very same beams that had de-aged him.

“Keith?” He asked, voice wobbly. Red drifted aimlessly. “Pidge, your modification works, right? Keith is fine, isn’t he?”

“I… I don’t know, Lance… I don’t think…”

He didn’t need to finish his sentence. An awful feeling suddenly sunk in Lance’s stomach as his heart lodged in his throat, painfully tight. He felt shaky and cold and distinctly like he was going to start to cry. _“Keith!”_


	2. Day One

Keith was a baby. After dragging Red back to the castle and hightailing it out of there with the scraps of the de-ageing monster on board they’d found him still buckled into the cockpit, as quiet as a mouse.

It was incredibly unnerving.

Allura had insisted they scan Keith before Lance was allowed to hold him. Keith was _his_ boyfriend, he should be able to hold him all he wanted! Lance was pretty sure he had the most experience with children out of all of them; he was definitely the best with kids, so why did Shiro get to hold Keith first? It was totally unfair.

The scan was unnecessarily long and boring. Keith just laid there, temporarily dressed in a red jumpsuit. He didn’t even fidget. Either way, Allura seemed satisfied with the information given by the data screens. Lance had a feeling that Keith’s prognostics were much the same as his own had been when he’d been de-aged.

“Can I take him out of the baby capsule now?” Lance asked impatiently.

“It’s called an incubator, for the fourth time, Lance,” Shiro sighed. “You know it’s best that we understand exactly what has happened to him. This is the fastest and easiest way to do it.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he muttered. He hadn’t seen a human child like Keith since he’d left his family to go to school. He’d helped raised his little siblings, just the way his older siblings had done for him, and he was very comfortable around children. He could only guess how many new babies were being born into his family while he was out fighting the Galra in space.

It saddened him to think about what he’d missed, and would continue to miss. Not just the births, but the marriages, the weekend bonfires, the battles for the shower, the Friday night dinners were one unsuspecting household was overrun by everyone even remotely related and one could only hope enough food had been prepared. He missed it all and it made him unhappy.

But Keith didn’t make him unhappy. He was sure baby Keith would be the same. 

Eventually, Allura powered down the baby capsule. “His scans are proving to be very similar to Lance’s, though the concentration of Galra energy in his cells is higher. That can be accounted to the fact that he was closer to the origin of the blast, but I doubt it will mean he will be stuck in this form for much longer than Lance.”

“Was does it mean, then?” Shiro asked, frowning.

Allura hesitated. “I believe his regrowth period might take longer than Lance’s,” she said. “As far as I can tell from these scans, it seems like the time frame during which the effects of the blast remain is relatively concrete. What differs is the rate of movement of the Galra blast and its effects on Keith’s cells – Lance’s moved rapidly and resulted in a five to six day healing time. While Keith’s are fast, they are not as rapid as Lance’s, so I think his healing time will be between eight and ten days.”

Lance winced, frowning. “Isn’t there some way we can make that a little less… painful?”

He received sympathetic looks at that. He was the only one who knew the pain of regrowing first hand, and he didn’t wish it on Keith at all. 

“There hasn’t been one we’ve found yet,” Allura murmured. “I can give him our pain medication, but I do not think human bodies can handle too much of it. You were rather incoherent when you woke.”

Didn’t he know it. He didn’t remember a thing from when he first woke up and he was high off those strange Altean meds. The only things he knew where things he’d been told – like that he’d said he had completely forgotten his time spent as a baby, which definitely wasn’t true. He remembered enough to know that Keith cared about him, even if just a little.

“You can take him now,” Allura said.

Lance reached into the baby capsule and gently lifted Keith up into his arms. “There, there, you scowly baby,” he cooed, “don’t give me that look now.”

Keith was a cute kid. Like, _really_ cute. All the women in his family would most definitely be jealous of a mother who could birth such a beautiful child. His older sister had been a stunning baby (was still stunning, though Lance would never tell her that to her face; he had a reputation to uphold, after all) and everyone had passive-aggressively fought over holding her when she was born. They would fight over Keith in this state, too, he was sure of it.

See, Keith had big eyes. Real big eyes so dark they seemed that they could lure a person in and never let them go. When he was normal sized, Keith’s eyes were this dark grey colour that sometimes seemed black, depending on the light. They were, however, light enough to see his pupil and the little flecks of monochromatic grey in them. As a baby, those eyes of his just seemed endlessly grey, so dark and alluring that Lance felt a little jealous. He knew that people said eyes were the windows to the soul, and looking at Keith made him believe it.

Those eyes of his were set in a chubby face with rosy cheeks and permanently pouty lips. Lance had an indescribable urge to pinch Keith’s cheeks until they were red, but knowing how much he’d hated it as a kid, he kept himself in check. He did, however, shift his hand to cradle the back of Keith’s head so he could run his fingers through his hair. Even as a baby Keith’s hair was thick. Babies didn’t often have this much hair, and even when Lance tried to smooth down the wispy tufts they only stuck further up. 

“You’re going to be a troublesome kid, aren’t ya?” Lance laughed, smiling fondly. “Oh, look at that scowl. It’s so Keith.”

“How do you know that?” Hunk asked, peering closer at Keith and his unmistakable scowl. “Is it because he looks so sour?”

Lance laughed again. “Course not, some babies just look grumpy like that,” he said. “I just know it. I’m practically a professional baby whisperer.”

Pidge snorted. “Baby whisperer? If you say so.”

Lance gave Pidge a dirty look. “Just you wait,” he said, “I’ll prove it. There have been dozens of babies born into my family after me. I’m _great_ with kids!” 

 

At lunch, Lance left Keith with Shiro so that he could move the crib from the nursery into his room. Shiro had offered to do it for him but Lance could manage on his own. He wanted to make sure he got everything Keith could possibly need. It had been a long time since he’d looked after a child and he wanted to ensure that Keith was never stressed enough to impede his regrowth. Allura had explained to him the dangers that stress could cause and if Lance were honest, he was a little afraid for Keith.

When he’d been a child, he’d wanted familial comfort. The other Paladins knew about his large family, and likely knew about his rampart homesickness, too. They didn’t really know anything like that about Keith, or about what made Keith upset. Sure, Lance thought he had a pretty good idea, but the whims of children and the whims of adolescents were very different. What if there were things about Keith, important things, that he simply didn’t know about? It was frightening to think he wouldn’t be able to help Keith.

He’d never tell anyone about those fears of his.

During lunch, Hunk made Keith a bottle of that formula stuff they’d given Lance. He couldn’t really remember what it tasted like, only the faint impression that it had been quite filling. Keith took the bottle surprisingly well considering this was only the first day he’d been a baby. Apparently Lance had been too stressed to eat when he’d first been de-aged.

“He hasn’t cried yet,” Shiro remarked as he handed the mostly empty bottle back to Hunk. “Not even when any of us left the room. Shouldn’t he have cried by now?”

“Maybe he’s in shock?” Allura offered.

“Oh great baby whisperer,” Pidge called, “what do you think? A fussy guy like Keith should have been a real crier as a kid.”

Lance hummed. He knew Pidge was teasing him, but he didn’t care. “Keith isn’t that fussy,” he said.

“Well he did take you as a boyfriend.”

_“Hey!”_

“No arguing around the baby,” Shiro cut in as Keith let out an uncomfortable sound. It wasn’t quite a whimper but it was unmistakably unhappy, and if the scowl he was sending Pidge’s way was anything to go by, Lance was pretty sure he knew why Keith had made it.

Lance stared at Shiro then burst into laughter. “Yeah, okay _Dad,”_ he snickered. “Give me back my boyfriend now, please.”

Shiro, flustered, handed over Keith without complaint. “Please don’t call me that,” he muttered. 

Lance ignored him in favour of paying attention to Keith. “You getting grumpy because someone was insulting your taste?” He chuckled, pressing his fingers into Keith’s stomach the way he knew all babies loved. Sure enough Keith donned a rather puzzled expression as he let out an exhaled huff, his arms flailing. It sounded like a laugh, but it wasn’t – didn’t Keith know how to laugh? Lance would have to work on that.

“If Keith doesn’t become stressed without all the Paladins in the room, then we should get back to training as soon as possible,” Allura said. “A schedule for Keith needs to be made so that we can monitor him, too. Lance, I assume you’ll keep him in your room?”

“Yep, moved the crib in and everything,” Lance said as he absently rocked Keith in his arms. “I don’t want to leave him down in the nursery.”

Allura nodded. “Alright.”

“I think it would be best that we leave the training for tomorrow when everyone is well-rested,” Coran said. Allura didn’t seem pleased with the idea – she never did, that slavedriver – but she didn’t oppose Coran’s suggestion. 

“Let’s rest up well, then,” Shiro nodded. “Pidge, you have everything you need to dismantle the de-ageing machine, don’t you?”

Pidge nodded. “Yeah, but I might need some help moving it all.”

“I’ll help,” Hunk said.

Shiro nodded. “Alright, if you need anything just come find me. Lance, you’ll keep an eye on Keith, right? There are still toys down in the nursery if you want to entertain him.”

“Sure,” Lance said, grinning as he held Keith up to rub their cheeks together. “You just leave this munchkin to me. I’m so going to take advantage of our age difference while I can.”

Shiro gave him a disapproving look. “Don’t tease him too much,” Shiro said. “He’ll likely remember just as much as you do.”

“Oh, come on,” Lance complained, pouting. “He’d never let me treat him so affectionately and you know it.”

Sighing, Shiro turned away. “Alright, alright. Just don’t stress him out.”

Lance, knowing that Shiro was only looking out for them, nodded. 

“I’ll probably go down to the training deck for a while, but if you come find me before dinner and I’m not there I’ll be in the hanger bays.”

“Have fun, Dad!” Lance called.

“Shut up, Lance.” Shiro’s ears were red as he exited the room.

Lance only laughed. He glanced down at Keith when they were the only two left in the dining hall, and grinned when he found Keith staring at him. He still had that irritated scowl etched onto his face but like this it was nothing more than a plain old, puppy-eyed pout. It was a look he wanted to burn into his memory. “I’ll figure you out yet, Keith,” he said, “so don’t go hiding anything from me, alright?”

 

Keith liked the toys that made noises. Lance had carried back as many as he could from the nursery, wondering when on earth the other Paladins had managed to buy so many. He didn’t remember having this many to play with when he was a child. 

Oddly enough, it was the rattle Lance had favoured that Keith liked the best, too. Maybe he recognised it, or maybe he just liked the little noises the bell attached to the handle with a ribbon made. In either case, his eyes followed it with so much concentration that Lance almost started laughing again. Even as a child Keith’s ability to focus was incredible.

Keith never once laughed, though. As the day progressed, it was something that Lance became distinctively aware of. His instincts were telling him that something was wrong; he loved the sound of a child’s laughter, loved the pure, bubbling gooiness of it, but Keith didn’t even so much as crack a smile. Not even a little one. Lance couldn’t even rule out the notion that Keith was unhappy because he hadn’t yet cried, either. What kind of baby didn’t cry? A Keith-baby, that’s what.

“If this is your attempt to be a better baby than me, it’s not gonna work,” Lance had told him. Keith had only stared. He did a lot of that, too. 

Dinner passed relatively uneventfully. Lance tried to feed Keith pureed vegetables, like what he had eaten, but Keith stubbornly refused them, glaring at the tiny spoon like it had personally offended him. He could really pull a sour face, this kid.

“Maybe he’s a little anxious,” Hunk said. “He might not be hungry…”

Lance hummed, and squinted at Keith. Keith only stared back at him. “No, he’s definitely hungry,” Lance decided, standing. “He just doesn’t want to eat his vegetables. I’ll make him a bottle.” 

When he returned from the kitchens with a warm bottle and a satisfied baby in his hands, he was the subject to a table full of perplexed stares.

“What? Do I have something on my face?”

“How did he know that?” Pidge whispered to Hunk, who only shrugged.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Ha-ha, funny guys. I told you, I’m a baby whisperer! I swear, there are so many kids in my family-”

Pidge snorted again. “Yeah, yeah, we get it, baby whisperer. Now come and eat so we can all go to bed.”

It was strange to think they’d become a family so fast here at the castle. Sure, Lance had known Hunk and Pidge for a long time – and to some extent, he’d known Keith too – but their relationship felt different. When he was with them, all of them, he forget about his homesickness. He liked Allura’s wit and Pidge’s brains and Hunk’s never-ending support. He liked Shiro’s gentle encouragements and the way he always looked out for them and kept them together, and he liked Coran’s- well, he just liked _Coran._ He was a funny dude.

For obvious reasons, he liked Keith too. He had pretty great looks and the way he brought out Lance’s competitive side was a nice bonus. If any of them were to leave or separate he would definitely be upset. He’d miss them far too much to ever let them go.

Things like eating meals and coordinating shower times had become second nature, now. They never left the table until everyone had finished and always left at least one towel clean in the cupboard for the last person who returned from the training decks. Even though Lance was pretty sure no one else had noticed, he knew Shiro came to check on them once after they’d gone to sleep before retiring to bed himself. 

The only thing that had ever really put a kink in things was this whole baby situation. It wasn’t even that bad, at least in his opinion. Having a child around brought an unmistakable aura to the castle that lightened the weight in Lance’s heart. It made him think of home without the bitter taste of longing settling on his tongue.

Shiro took Keith to be changed and redressed in pyjamas (it was decided it should still be his job just to avoid any and all awkward situations in the future) before they each bid one another goodnight. Lance took Keith back to his room and was pleasantly surprised when he found that Keith was fighting off yawns. 

“You better wake me up tonight when you get hungry, you little monster,” Lance said, lifting Keith higher into his arms as he entered his room. “Cries, tears, the whole works – you hear me?”

Keith stared at him grumpily, his eyelids drooping. Lance carefully lowered him into the crib where one of Keith’s pillows (Lance hadn’t stolen it a month ago, of course not, he would never steal his boyfriend’s pillow just because it smelled really good) and several soft blankets awaited him. Keith’s expression turned stricken for a moment and he let out a soft, barely audible whine as he held out a hand.

Lance pulled the crib closer to where he sat on his bed and reached through the bars to rest one hand on the top of Keith’s head while the other carefully cradled Keith’s outstretched fingers. “There’s those sad emotions you’ve been hiding away,” he said quietly. “I’m here, Keith. It’s okay if you want to cry, you know. I did. A lot.”

Keith just huffed at him, frowning. Lance rubbed his thumb across Keith’s forehead to smooth out those little wrinkles and was delighted to find that the action made Keith’s eyes instantly flutter close. It only took a minute of him doing the same thing again and again before Keith had finally drifted to sleep.

For the first time, his expression wasn’t dominated by a scowl. His eyebrows weren’t furrowed and his lips weren’t puckered into a pout and there wasn’t any tension in his eyes or forehead. He looked so peaceful that, for a moment, Lance was completely floored.

Absently, he reached for his helmet to fiddle with the communications settings. He didn’t remove his other hand from Keith’s head. “Hey, Pidge, you up?”

“Yeah, of course,” Pidge said. “What’s up?”

“You got a camera?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I received more fanart for _My Youth Is Yours_ so I added links into the beginning of the last chapter ;v; thank you so much for the support, I really appreciate it! It's very encouraging ❤


	3. Day Two

Keith did not like the camera. Lance took photos of him whenever he had the chance; it was almost a silent process, except for a soft clicking noise that was reminiscent of a digital camera’s shutters, much like the phones back on Earth had sounded like. Lance didn’t know if it was the noise of the fact that he had the camera pointed at him that bothered Keith, but it was still freaking adorable. 

The first night Keith spent sleeping in Lance’s room had been unfortunately uneventful. Lance had had the forethought to set alarm for about three in the morning and it was that which woke him, and not Keith. When he’d managed to pull himself from out under his sheets and peer into the crib he’d found that Keith was awake, just quiet. 

“If you’re hungry you should cry,” he’d mumbled around a yawn as he’d heaved Keith out of the crib. Keith had been pliant but fidgety in his arms but settled after Lance had wrapped him in one of the soft blankets from the crib.

And Keith had been hungry, too. He drank the whole bottle in record time and still seemed famished, so Lance gave him half a bottle more. He didn’t quite finish it all but he drank enough that Lance made sure to keep a note in his head about it. Keith was a pretty chubby baby, the kind that were endlessly cute and squishable, and it made Lance wonder where all that baby fat had fallen away to during puberty. Keith couldn’t have just turned into the infuriatingly attractive guy he was now overnight, right? Lance distinctly remembered puberty being awkward and it totally wasn’t fair that Keith instantly turned from cute kid to hot teen.

That morning, after feeding Keith his breakfast and eating his own, Lance helped Allura make up a schedule. Realistically he knew she could do it on her own with the information they’d gained from watching Keith for a day, but he wanted to have a hand in it, too. He was starting to get protective of Keith the same way he got protective of his littlest siblings.

“No, no, you have to feed him four extra ounces at lunch and two extra at his night feeding,” Lance said. “He was still hungry last night after a full bottle so he’s going to need more than I did.”

Allura frowned but dutifully made the adjustments. “He slept straight through the night, did he not?”

“I think so,” Lance said. “He didn’t cry when he woke up for a feed so I don’t know how long he was awake, but as soon as he was full he fell asleep again. He was practically snoring before I even got back to my room.”

Allura chuckled. “I see. He didn’t sleep much yesterday… Do you think he will nap? You did, but there was no set routine to it.”

“He might, if he’s tired enough,” Lance said, glancing down at Keith. He had him resting on his knee while Keith placidly held the rattle. It really was his favourite toy. 

“He seems very different to how you were, more than I had first expected,” Allura remarked. “Is that normal for human children?”

Lance hummed. “Well, every kid is different, yeah, but Keith is setting off some of my instincts. He seems real quiet, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know if my judgment can be considered objectively, but I think he does seem somewhat forlorn,” she said. “Perhaps we should use the psychic equipment on him? It helped greatly with you.”

“Maybe,” Lance said. He didn’t want to use that equipment on Keith, though. To him, it had felt like an upsetting breach of privacy, but even so it hadn’t been something that bothered him. He liked to share his family and his memories. They had seen memories he would have otherwise voluntarily told them about, and he hadn’t been angry at them for viewing them without his consent.

He couldn’t say the same for Keith. He’d lived in that shack in the desert instead of returning home after leaving the garrison, and he’d never talked about his family before. It was almost like he didn’t remember them, or that he didn’t want to remember them. Although Lance really did want to know that part of Keith – the Keith he had been before Lance knew him – he would never push Keith to share. Even he knew that that was a boundary one shouldn’t cross without permission. 

When the schedule was finished, Allura sent copies to everyone in the castle. Lance knew that his fellow Paladins were likely down in the training room or in the hangers, but he felt no compulsion to join them. He was more than content to avoid sweating in his suit in favour of spending time alone with Keith. 

With Allura returning to work, Lance made his way back to the common room. The couches were a good place to set Keith down – they were wide and sturdy and it wasn’t likely he’d fall off the edge. Even if he only sat there Lance was sure the thought was what counted.

“I wonder if you can talk,” Lance said as he playfully dangled the rattle in front of Keith’s face. Keith’s dark eyes watched it with rapt attention, so much so that Lance didn’t think he had anything else on his mind. “I could talk, but I’m a chatty guy. You don’t even cry.”

Keith tilted his head to the side to peer around the rattle at the sound of Lance’s voice. He held out his hand insistently for the rattle so Lance handed it to him, but he didn’t even shake it. He just seemed satisfied that he’d gotten it back from Lance, which made Lance laugh. Of course that’d be the only reason he wanted it – because Lance had it.

With the rattle in hand again, Keith’s attention left him. Lance sighed, and rested his chin in his palm as he crossed his legs. “What’s going on in that head of yours, huh?” He asked. “I bet its nothing and you’re just tricking us all.”

He wasn’t serious. Lance knew that the blank looks Keith sometimes wore weren’t all him just spacing out. Sure, a lot of them definitely were, but some weren’t. And although his expressions were very different as a child, the idea was still the same. It was a little frustrating but Lance was sure he could handle it. There were stubborn and quiet children in his family and eventually they always came out of their shells.

He was pretty sure he couldn’t treat Keith the same way he treated the babies in his family, but that probably wouldn’t stop him. On a whim he reached forwards to rub his knuckles against Keith’s soft cheek and couldn’t help but smile when Keith made a small, curious noise. Lance rubbed his fingertips under Keith’s chin next and was amused when he received that same huffing, almost-laughter noise. Lance sat up a little straighter, intrigued, and used his other hand to trace a light line across Keith’s other cheek. 

Keith made the same sound.

“I know there’s a laugh buried in there somewhere,” Lance said. He pressed his fingers into Keith’s side, wiggling them until Keith’s cheeks when red and his arms began to push at Lance’s hands. “Come on, let it out, Keith,” he sung, “you know you wanna.”

Keith only whined, so with a laugh Lance relented. A puzzled look came to Keith’s face as he blinked at Lance, frowning. A furrow had appeared in his brows as he reached for Lance’s hands again. His mouth opened like he might say something, but only a frustrated noise came out.

“Oh? You liked that, did you?” Lance grinned, reaching forwards to cup Keith’s face in his palms. He squished Keith’s cheeks, just lightly, and was delighted by those weird little huffing noises Keith started to make again. “Like that, Keith? You’re such a weird kid.”

Keith clearly didn’t have a clue what he was saying, but Lance didn’t mind. Babies were better at showing emotions than telling them anyway, even if Keith was a little slow on the whole it’s-okay-to-show-emotions uptake. 

Lance would just have to show him how.

 

At lunch, Lance noticed that their supply of baby formula was starting to run low. He mentioned it to Coran who was in the kitchens with him.

“We can’t make a stop for another week yet,” Coran informed him, rubbing the back of his neck. “The supply would have lasted a few extra days if Keith didn’t eat more than you – not that that’s a problem – but it would be best if we could get him to eat something else instead. He doesn’t seem very fond of… _foreign_ food.”

“He won’t eat his alien vegetables, huh?” Lance laughed to himself. “I’ll get him to eat them, just you wait!”

Although he made up Keith a bottle, he also had Coran mix up pureed fruits and vegetables – the ones that were sweet tasting with a mushy, tolerable texture. 

Hunk was holding Keith when Lance returned to the dining room. It seemed that Keith wasn’t as fussy as Lance had been when it came to who held him and was content to just lay anywhere so long as he was comfortable. _What a simple kid._

He took Keith back and set him in his lap as Coran served everyone their food. Lance ignored his in favour of Keith’s, and as he gingerly scooped up a spoonful of the mush he saw Keith give him a displeased frown.

“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, buddy,” Lance said. “At least have a spoonful and then I’ll give you the bottle, alright? But you can’t spit it out on me, either. Deal?”

Keith’s frown only deepened. Lance brought the spoon to his lips but Keith shut them tight, stubbornly turning his head to the side. He reached out for the bottle as if he could actually take it from Lance, which made Lance snort. 

“No deal, then,” he said. He gave Keith a thoughtful look, then grinned. “Fine, new plan. Baby whisperer to the rescue.”

With his free hand, Lance reached out to trace his fingers under Keith’s chin. Automatically, Keith’s mouth dropped open as he leaned into the affectionate gesture, and Lance took the chance to press the spoon into his mouth. Keith let out a surprised sound as his brows furrowed. He clearly had no idea what was going on but as his tongue worked over the spoon, his eyes suddenly lightened. When Lance drew the spoon away, it was completely clean.

“There we go,” he grinned wider, “I knew you’d like it. Not so bad is it, huh? You should listen to me more often, I’m always right.”

Keith just held his mouth open, frowning at Lance.

“You impatient little monster,” he snorted again. “Alright, alright. There’s only so fast I can move.”

As it turned out, Keith really liked the alien vegetables. He made impatient noises any time Lance was too slow with the spoon and held onto Lance’s hands with his own tiny ones so that he could lick away every drop of the sweet puree before he relinquished it. It was so ridiculously cute that Lance forgot all about eating his own lunch. He preferred watching Keith be cute, anyway.

When the bowl was finished, Lance set the spoon to the side. Keith made that little impatient noise again and grabbed a fistful of Lance’s shirt. He tugged with all his might but it wasn’t that much so Lance just left him. There was puree all over Keith’s face from when he’d been too impatient to fit the spoon in his mouth and if Lance weren’t holding him he’d surely double up with uncontrollable laughter. Instead of that he asked Pidge to pass him the camera he’d left on the end of the dining table when he’d first walked in.

As per usual, Keith only scowled at the camera. He looked so sour that even Shiro started to chuckle.

“I can’t believe you got him to eat those vegetables,” Hunk said as he passed Lance a napkin. “He wouldn’t even look at them yesterday, but he’s finished the whole bowl.”

“Baby whisperer,” Lance reminded him smugly. “I got this whole routine down pat.”

After he’d wiped Keith’s face clean, he gave him the bottle. He knew Keith wouldn’t drink the entire thing, but he’d drink enough to keep himself satisfied until dinner time. The rest could be saved for the early morning feed where a couple of extra ounces were needed. 

“Has he cried yet?” Allura asked.

Lance shook his head. “No, but he was kind of laughing before. At least, I think it was meant to be a laugh. He seemed like he was enjoying himself.”

“Maybe he was chastised for crying as a child,” Shiro offered, voice careful. “He might expect to be punished.”

Lance winced. He hated even entertaining that thought. With the upbringing he’d had he’d never even considered the idea that maybe Keith’s childhood was something worse than just lonely. 

“Well, he can cry all he wants,” Lance said, anxiously cuddling Keith closer. Keith made a small noise at being jostled and lifted a tiny hand to steady the bottle like he thought Lance needed help doing it. “You hear that, Keith? Just be a normal baby and do what you want.”

 

The rest of the day passed relatively uneventfully. Lance didn’t get any further with the whole getting-Keith-to-laugh situation, but he did find out that Keith really loved the physical attention. Not only did he love having his face stroked but he enjoyed holding Lance’s hand in his own to explore the size difference and he’d even tentatively reached up to touch Lance’s hair at one point.

He really was just the cutest kid.

At dinner, Lance got Keith to eat more pureed vegetables. He didn’t seem to like these ones just as much as he liked the sweet ones, but with Lance’s gentle insistence he ate the whole bowl. Just like before, the other Paladins were surprised with how easily Lance handled him. It made Lance feel kind of proud considering how much he’d been saying he was the best at caring for children.

It made him feel less lonely, too. He’d missed being around children and was taking his fill of Keith while he could. He made sure to take photos of just about anything and everything he could – of Keith playing with his rattle, of Keith sitting on the sofa, of Keith eating, of Keith sitting in his arms. He’d even managed to prop Keith up against his chest to take a selfie of them together.

It was stupid, but he thought Keith might appreciate it. He’d seemed too dismal at the idea of having no baby pictures of himself. He’d said there might be some in the shack, but even if there were, Lance knew just from Keith’s tone that there probably weren’t many. While he could, he’d take as many as the camera could possibly hold. And when it was full, he’d have Pidge download all the images so he could take even more.

He wondered if the castle had a photobook lying around somewhere that he could use. Having physical copies of the pictures would be a nice gift to give Keith when he turned back to normal.

During dinner, Shiro took Keith away to give him a bath and change his clothes. His pyjamas were red, like his Lion, but before the week was up Lance was gonna squeeze him into blue clothes even if it was the death of him. Keith and blue were two things that would go very well together, he thought. Maybe even more than Red! 

In his opinion, anyway.

Either way, when Keith was returned to him in his little red pyjamas, he smelt like gentle soap and his hair was extra soft and fluffy. No matter how hard Lance tried to brush those locks into submission they remained as messy and wild as ever. Of course, he took at least a dozen photos for documentation purposes. He was going to tease the hell out of Keith about his hair when he was normal aged again. He’d compliment it too, and tell Keith how soft it was just to see him turn bright red. He wasn’t that good at taking compliments yet, but Lance would slowly wear him down with all the compliments he had in store.

Keith was drowsy as Lance carried him back to his room after bidding everyone goodnight. He would have to return to training with them tomorrow, but for now he was more than content to just spend his time solely with Keith. 

Keith’s eyelids started to droop shut. When Lance began to lower him into the crib, Keith suddenly let out this loud, unhappy noise that started Lance so bad he almost dropped him.

“What? What’s the matter?” He fretted, lifting Keith back into his arms.

Keith stared at him, frowning furiously, and Lance was surprised to find that Keith’s dark eyes were slick with tears. Something painfully tight gripped at his heart as a cold stone settled into his stomach.

He brought Keith closer to his chest, wrapped him in a blanket, and sat on the edge of his bed. “You can cry if you want to, Keith,” he whispered, absently running his fingers through Keith’s hair. “Alright? I’m still going to be here. You’re not going to get into trouble.”

There was a wet sniffle before Keith rested his head against Lance’s shoulder and went limp. He seemed abruptly exhausted, and even though he hadn’t let any tears fall, Lance knew that he was close enough to it that he must have shocked himself. 

He held Keith in his arms until Keith drifted well off into sleep, and even after that for a little while, too.


	4. Day Three

Early the next morning Lance woke up not to his pre-set alarm, but to quiet noises that came from the crib. He sat up and yawned when it became clear that the noises were not in his head, and glanced over at the crib. 

Keith was staring at him. His eyes were glazed with tears and his little fists were clenched. His entire face was twisted into a furious pout, the entirety of which was focused solely on Lance. It was like he had tried to glare Lance into consciousness; it’d probably worked, too, along with the quiet, upset huffing noises he was making. 

“You hungry, Keith?” Lance murmured around another yawn. He checked the ticker Coran had given him and found that it was just about time for Keith’s three o’ clock feed, so he shut off his alarm and set it aside. When he pulled Keith from the crib to cradle him in his arms, Keith’s glare only intensified. Absently, Lance ran the pad of his thumb under Keith’s eyes, brushing away any tears that had gathered in his lower lashes. “What are you so bitter about, hmm? I’m awake.”

Keith reached up a hand to grip Lance’s shirt. He fidgeted, but stopped when Lance comfortingly cupped the back of his head. He was probably just hungry, but Lance still thought he was cute. There probably wasn’t another baby in all the universe that could pull off such a grumpy look. 

It was colder in the kitchens than Lance had expected it to be so he tightened Keith’s blanket. “I need to get you a beanie,” he said. “Oh, that would be cute. You want a beanie, Keith?”

Keith glared.

“Fine, fine, food first. But I’m getting you a beanie whether you like it or not and I’m gonna make sure it’s blue, too,” Lance said, giving Keith a pointed stare as he fixed up a bottle. He leaned against the counter and yawned while he waited for it to cool before finally offering it to Keith. He really was quite hungry and if he hadn’t been so sleepy Lance would have laughed. Keith treated eating with the same amount of gusto that he normally treated training. “Who knew you’d be such a hungry baby, huh? I should call you Hungry Hippo from now on.”

If it were possible, Keith managed to glare at him over the bottle. He didn’t stop his vigorous eating, but he still managed to look sour. Now that was something that made Lance laugh. His normal Keith could still pull expressions like that – if Lance hugged him after training without showering first, for example – but as a baby it was far more amusing. 

After Keith had finished, Lance set the bottle aside and used the hem of his shirt to wipe Keith’s mouth. Hungry babies were usually messy babies, and Keith was no exception. Even as Lance cleaned his face he started to fall asleep, yawning widely in that way babies did that had their whole face scrunching up. 

Lance didn’t immediately put Keith back into his crib when he eventually made it back to his room. He kind of liked the weight of Keith in his arms and wanted to savour it for a little longer so he sat on his bed. Keith seemed comfortable just to rest on Lance’s chest, his chubby cheek pressed against Lance’s collarbones. He drifted to sleep within moments as Lance carefully carded his fingers through Keith’s soft hair.

As much as Lance liked this Keith, he kind of missed the normal one. Whatever their relationship was, it was still new, and he was anxious to see it play out. Plus, he really wanted to kiss Keith. Preferably on the lips. They hadn’t done that yet, though not for lack of trying. The first time it had almost happened they’d bumped foreheads hard enough to make Lance dizzy. He didn’t want to have a forced first kiss with Keith but at this point it seemed like it would be best if he just grab Keith by the cheeks and plant one right on him.

Of course, he couldn’t do that now. He’d take advantage of the fact that he could kiss Keith on the forehead and on the cheek, but it wasn’t the same, was it? It was affectionate, but not romantic. He wanted to lavish Keith in romantic feelings for as long as Keith let him. He guessed he was just a little lonely without his boyfriend around.

 

The next day, after breakfast, they resumed training. Coran watched over Keith as Allura directed them from the control room. During the time Lance had been together with Keith he’d learned to be more perceptive on the battle field, and his attention had turned to be on Keith more so that he could know where he was at all times. 

It was very different without him. Lance was incredibly surprised by how much that one month had changed him. It was hard not to consciously search for Keith and several times he caught himself panicking, thinking that Keith had been hit. It was only training but those blasts could really hurt, you know? And Keith had pale skin, he bruised easily. Lance had to look out for him – he was the better pilot, after all! At least, that’s what he always said. He didn’t always know if he believed it anymore.

“Lance, concentrate!” Shiro shouted as a blast whizzed past Lance’s shoulder to almost hit Shiro in the leg. “This is a team exercise!”

“I know!” Lance shouted back. He raised his hand-held shield again and turned his eyes back to the tiny robots shooting at them, silently cursing Pidge for ever equipping them with a faster reload time. He thought back to when they first did this exercise while trying to form Voltron and cringed, knowing none of them would have lasted half as long as they did. 

Eventually the fire from the robots died down. Lance was sweating when they did, trying not to pant, and he let out a relieved sigh as he lowered his shield. Allura was a cruel trainer when she wanted to be, and she always wanted to be, so they’d gone at least a dozen rounds. They’d failed the first few times and consequently fallen through the floor that liked to open up and swallow them whole. 

“Alright, good work,” Allura said over the speakers. “We’ll move onto the maze exercise as a break from strenuous physical exertion.”

Lance tried not to groan. Allura said _strenuous physical exertion_ like one might say _puppies_ and it was ridiculous. She loved to train them, even when they were sweating and tired and ready to drop wherever they stood. Lance knew she was just proud of their progress (and used to training Altean soldiers) but it really was excessive sometimes.

“Pidge, you come up and direct Lance through the maze first,” Allura said. “Then Hunk will direct Shiro.”

“Why am I always the first to get electrocuted?” Lance complained. 

“Don’t worry, Lance,” Pidge said, grinning widely in a way that spoke of nothing but trouble, “I won’t let you electrocute yourself.”

“I’m going to die. I’m dead. Allura, can I change partners?”

“No.”

“I’m _so_ dead.”

 

Lance groaned as he flopped back down on the couches in the common room. He was freshly showered and his hair was still damp and his muscles ached something fierce, but he felt a little better. Wearing away at his excess energy by training tended to do that. Now he wanted nothing more than to melt into the couch for all eternity.

Alas, he had his baby of a boyfriend to look after. It had been Hunk watching over Keith while the others went to shower but now that Lance had returned, he dumped Keith on Lance’s stomach and made off to take his own shower.

Keith pressed his hands into Lance’s stomach, frowning at his sudden change in location. He made a small noise as if grab Lance’s attention, with Lance readily gave. “What are you looking for, _nene?_ You want something?” Lance asked.

Keith only frowned at him, looking rather worried. It made Lance chuckle as he scooped Keith up to rest against his chest properly. That seemed to please Keith a little more who flopped to rest his chin on Lance’s chest. Lance settled a hand on Keith’s back and sighed, feeling rather content with himself. This was nice. This was a good thing. Much better than training until his skeleton wanted to leave his body.

Eventually the others filed out to join him across the couches. This part of training was always his favourite – the after-training bonding. They were all in the room and they were all tired but pleasantly warmed by showers and it was so peaceful that sometimes he forgot he wasn’t at home in his living room with all his family piled on top of him. 

“When does Keith need to be fed next?” Shiro asked as he took a relaxed seat on the end of the couch beside Lance’s feet. 

“Dinner,” Lance said. “Hunk fed him while we showered.”

They’d had a small lunch after training just to replenish their energy before heading off to the showers. Their food had been served earlier than Keith’s usually would have been so Lance hadn’t fed him, though he’d offered Keith tiny morsels of his own lunch. He hadn’t liked it much and had gnawed on some alien root plant until he’d shredded it all over their laps. Very messy business, as was becoming usual with this particular baby.

“Alright,” Shiro sighed, leaning further back into the couch. “We can relax for a little while, then.”

And relax they did. Lance rested his free hand behind his head and closed his eyes, content to listen to the gentle hum of the ship and the soft breathing sounds of his teammates. They were comforting sounds, ones he’d come to rely on when he was feeling particularly lonely or homesick. Although his bond with Keith was certainly the most intimate, that didn’t mean he didn’t have bonds with his fellow Paladins, as well. He was close to them in a way he wasn’t close to other people, and he knew it was the same for them. Voltron gave them that. 

“How is Keith going?” Hunk asked. He was sprawled across one of the couches across the room, staring at the ceiling. “I mean, is he getting better?”

“I think so,” Lance said, absently rubbing Keith’s back. “He woke me up for his feed last night.”

“Oh, did he cry?”

Lance shook his head even though no one was looking at him as they spoke. “No, but he did make little noises. He hasn’t cried yet.”

“Isn’t that meant to be a mother’s dream?” Pidge asked. “I mean, a quiet baby who ever cries sounds like a mother’s dream, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, but this is different,” Lance said. “Keith isn’t a baby. Well, he is right now, but not usually. He should be stressed and scared and emotional, but he doesn’t even laugh, not really. I’m starting to think that digging into his memories might be a good idea.”

Pidge hummed. “I was thinking about that last night, actually,” he said. “Like, I know you and Keith have this weird thing going on-”

“We’re boyfriends.”

“And that you guys are closer than us-”

“Because we’re boyfriends.”

“And even though I don’t really understand it-”

“Pidge, say it. Say the word. _Boyfriends._ Lance and Keith are boyfriends.”

Pidge scowled just as hard as Keith did, face flushing. “I don’t like labels! It’s too mushy and affection and- ugh,” he said defensively, shivering, before coughing to clear his throat. “Anyway, I was thinking about the equipment and I’m pretty sure I can adjust it so that only you’ll see his memories. You know, because they’re private, and if Keith wants to kill us for doing it you’ll be right at the top of his list.”

 _“Rude,_ Pidge.”

“How would you do that?” Shiro asked curiously.

“I can make a headpiece that will transmit the images from the psychic equipment into Lance’s mind instead – as in a headpiece that will divert the flow of memories into a specific place. I’m pretty sure Lance would have to be under to experience it; like a dream, except the stimulus will be from Keith’s mind instead.”

Lance made a contemplative sound. “You can do that?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know how safe it’ll be,” Pidge said. “Like I said, you’ll have to be unconscious for it to work. Normal sleep should be fine but if you wake up prematurely the connection will be cut off. You’re the only one who will see the images and know the direction Keith’s memory is going so prompting him to think of the things that are blocking his emotional responses will be difficult, too.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Hunk worried. “Should we really be doing dangerous things like that? Danger isn’t good for us, you know.”

“It might be dangerous, yes,” Pidge agreed.

“But it’s an option,” Lance murmured. “Just an option.”

As if sensing Lance’s concern, Keith lifted his head again. It seemed like a struggle for such a little body to accomplish but he did, peering at Lance all the while with those dark, critical eyes of his. He made an inquisitive noise and pressed his hand insistently against Lance’s face, his little fingers wiggling.

“It’s amazing how he reacts to you like that,” Shiro remarked. “He doesn’t do the same with us.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he always watches you, and always gets fidgety when you go quiet,” Shiro explained. “It’s not surprising considering how attached you were to him when you were a child.”

Lance laughed quietly, which seemed to put Keith back at ease. “Well, I am a baby whisperer,” Lance said brazenly, tilting his chin up. “I’m great with kids!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Pidge waved a hand, “we get it, Lance. Baby whisperer expert, right here in the castle. Wonderful. Anyway – do you want me to make the headpiece? Even if we don’t use it I think it might be helpful eventually, or at least good to have around. Might be useful.”

“Hey!” Lance said indignantly.

“I think it might be useful,” Shiro nodded in agreement, studiously ignoring Lance’s exaggerated exasperation. “If you have everything you need to build it, then go ahead.”

“I will.”

Lance closed his eyes again. Although he didn’t want to be, he was a little excited at the concept of seeing Keith’s memories. He wanted to know more about Keith, maybe even find out things he didn’t know, but he didn’t want to know fi Keith wanted to keep it a secret from him for now – it was not worth the cost of Keith’s privacy. It was a weird position to be in; to want to know, but not want to find out. He just wanted Keith to tell him, he thought, but maybe Keith didn’t remember it. 

In either case, he would keep the equipment Pidge wanted to build an option. He didn’t have to use it if he didn’t need to, but if it really came down to it, it would be there. 

 

For dinner, Keith ate pureed vegetables again. He’d napped once in the afternoon, cradled in the crook of Lance’s arms, and when he’d woken he’d been ravenous. To save on baby formula Lance had only asked Hunk to prepare pureed vegetables and fruits, but thankfully Keith didn’t seem to notice. He impatiently consumed everything Lance gave him, even going so far as to petulantly hold onto Lance’s wrist while he scraped up spoonfuls of the alien food mush.

Lance was really hungry by the time he finally finished feeding Keith, but it was worth it to see Keith enjoy his food so much. If he ever complained about not liking alien food then Lance was going to show him all the photos the others took while Keith was eating. 

“I think we should do the memory thing,” Lance said as he slowly ate his way through his dinner. “I was thinking about it today after we talked, and I think it might be a good idea.”

Keith still hadn’t laughed. He hadn’t cried or smiled, not really, either. Lance wanted to see him do all those things and if going through his memories let him see them, then he would. He wanted to help Keith, and these things that troubled him… Lance _knew_ he could help. 

“If you think that will be for the best, then I trust your judgement,” Allura said. “Pidge, how soon can you have the equipment built?”

Pidge rubbed the back of his neck. “Tomorrow afternoon? I’ve started it today, but I want to triple check that there’s no possibility of it malfunctioning or performing incorrectly.” 

“That is wise,” Allura nodded. “If it is ready by tomorrow, we’ll do it tomorrow. Does that sound amicable to you, Lance?”

He nodded. “Sounds fine to me.”

 

Once again, Lance found himself reluctant to part with Keith when it came time to place him back into his crib. He selfishly held onto Keith well past his bedtime, curled up on his own bed under all his warm blankets. Keith, for what it was worth, seemed more than happy to simply lay where he was. He wasn’t asleep yet, but Lance was pretty sure if he put his fingers to work in Keith’s hair he would be out like a light.

“I still want to hear you talk,” he told Keith. “The first thing I said was your name, right? So you should say mine first, too.”

Keith stared at him, blinking owlishly. He yawned once.

Lance sighed. “Alright, alright, I get it,” he said, lifting his hand to run his fingers through Keith’s hair a couple of times. Predictably, Keith’s eyes fell shut straight away. “You’re not a talker, it’s all good.”

When Keith was close to sleep, Lance stood. He carefully lowered Keith into his crib and arranged the blankets over him neatly. He turned off the lights and crawled his way into bed, sighing again as he stretched out his legs. He’d almost fallen asleep where he heard a quiet, whispered murmur coming from the crib.

“Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Nene_ is a Spanish term of endearment that is often given to children, roughly translated to "baby boy" or "honey"
> 
> (I have never taken Spanish and I am not familiar with the language, so if there's anything incorrect with that or if you think something else would fit better, please tell me!)
> 
> Oh, I also made a [twitter](https://twitter.com/fairydens) because there's lots of pretty art there. I'm not very good at drawing but I might try posting my own too (๑´ω`๑)


	5. Day Four

It took Lance a long time to convince Keith to go to sleep that night. He woke just after midnight and made enough noise to rouse Lance from his own light slumber. Even when Lance had held him and walked around for a little while and brushed Keith’s hair with his fingers he always stirred when Lance tried to lower him into the crib. 

In the end Lance had managed to get Keith to sleep by keeping him in his own bed. Under Lance’s blankets and rested against Lance’s chest, Keith eventually drifted to sleep. Lance had been a little concerned about rolling over in his sleep if he kept Lance in his bed, but he’d done the same with his little siblings before and never had a problem. He was more aware of Keith too, even unconsciously. 

Around three Keith woke up again, and somehow managed to wake Lance by mumbling his name again. It certainly surprised Lance, even though he’d asked for it. He hadn’t actually expected Keith to say it, that’s all. He had a rather prickly attitude when it came to following Lance’s orders… Though this was different from their usual banter.

Keith ate, and then they slept again. Lance didn’t bother trying to put him back into the crib. It was far easier just to cradle him in his arms while he slept. 

By morning, he was feeling more rested than usual. Waking up every night did tire him out but it wasn’t the kind of thing he’d complain about, especially not with Keith. He’d probably tease him, sure, but never complain. Over breakfast, they discussed the day’s plans. 

Pidge was still working on the modifications to the psychic equipment. It was clear he’d stayed up all through the night working on it, as he often did, but either way he never missed breakfast. Lance didn’t know how he could run on so little sleep all the time. It was kind of terrifying.

That left Lance, Shiro and Hunk to train. Lance was relieved that Pidge wasn’t around to lead him through the invisible maze again. Shiro and Hunk were much kinder to him in that regard, even if they were unsympathetic towards his excessive concerns for Keith’s wellbeing. He knew that today was the day he’d go through Keith’s memories. It was worrying, and the more he thought about it the more uneasy he became, so he tried to put it out of his mind.

He hadn’t told the others that Keith had spoken. Somehow, knowing that Keith had confided to him with the safety of night obscuring them was sticking in Lance’s mind. It had been night when he’d gone to find Keith in the observatory room after he’d been re-aged, too. It was hard to tell the time of day in space with no regular sun movements, but that never seemed to matter. To Keith, the night was a safety blanket – he surely hadn’t realised it himself, but Lance did, and he would not betray Keith’s trust on that matter.

Even if he was a baby.

After breakfast, Allura went to take her place at the helm of the castle. It was imperative that they avoided Galra ships and scouts during the time Keith was stuck as a baby. Without him, their offensive power was weakened and there was no chance they could form Voltron. As much as Lance hated to think it, Keith was also incredibly vulnerable like this. He knew first-hand how many things could hurt children, and if a table corner could knock them out then he didn’t want to think what a Galra soldier would do.

That left Coran to look after Keith while the remaining Paladins ran the training simulations. It was with tangible reluctance that Lance handed Keith over to him. He trusted Coran, of course he did, but he wanted Keith to himself. It didn’t help that Keith stared after him, his brow furrowing in that way that spoke of confusion. He didn’t speak at all, so Lance left him. 

Training progressed as it usually did when one of them were absent – roughly, and laden with mistakes. They trained with the mobile robots first, the ones that buzzed through the air and shot blazing hot energy blasts at them. The robots weren’t designed to hurt them, not really, but the blasts did singe their suits. The way Lance’s skin got uncomfortably warm when he was hit wasn’t great, either – he swears these blasts have burned away at least half of his leg hairs.

“You need to focus more, Lance,” Shiro had said to him in between rounds. “I know you’re worried about Keith, but this is a training session, and we have to make the most of it.”

Lance knew that, he really did, but it was hard. This practice would be important in the future if one of the Paladins were out for the count, but Lance’s mind strayed to Keith as if it had its own will. He wound up agitated and frustrated with himself, so much so that Hunk had started giving him very concerned glances. 

“I’m alright,” he said, restless, when Hunk opened his mouth. “Just… I can’t concentrate.”

Hunk’s shoulders lowered like he was trying to make himself smaller. As Lance had gotten to know him back when they were in the garrison, he’d learned that Hunk did that when he was comforting someone. Sure, he was a bigger guy, but he could slip into one’s personal space and bury his reassurance deep in their heart like no one else. Even now, Hunk’s careful tactics worked on him like a charm. “It’s alright, Lance,” he said. “Your time wouldn’t be wasted if you spend it together with him, you know.”

It was what he had needed to hear. Lance was overcome by the familiar desire to tell Hunk everything – that he was worried, that Keith had said his name when he’d woken in the middle of the night, that maybe he felt more for Keith than he was willing to admit to himself and that he was scared – but he held his tongue. Lance wasn’t the only one stressed by this situation and he struggled to remember that, but he did then. Hunk didn’t need to worry about Lance’s problems, not when his heart was busy trying to be big enough to share with the rest of them.

So instead he smiled, and honest smile, and exhaled slowly. “Thanks man,” he said. “I mean it.”

“I know,” Hunk said.

Lance left the training deck after that. Shiro didn’t mind, and only placed a warm hand – his human one – on Lance’s shoulder as he left. He had that look on his face that made Lance think Shiro really would be a good father one day.

He showered before doing anything else. Peeling off his suit, hardly touched by sweat, made him feel incredibly guilty. He hadn’t even really tried to train, had he? Shiro and Hunk had. Not even the scalding hot touch of the water from the shower could wash away his shame. He probably should have tried harder. His _Mamá_ would have told him to do his best.

With a start, he realised he could no longer remember what she sounded like when she voiced those words. How many times had she told him to do his best over the years? A dozen, two dozen, countless times; so much so that he’d thought that forgetting it was impossible. He wracked his brains trying to remember what she’d sounded like when she’d said anything – his name, a whispered goodnight, even the times when she’d yelled at him for doing something stupid or sighed to herself, quiet and disappointed, when something had not gone right and she thought no one was looking. 

Unbidden, he began to cry. His mother’s voice was only a faint impression in his mind, one that in his anguish he struggled to recall. He pressed his hands to his face, shocked to find that they were shaking, and tried to wipe his cheeks dry. There was an almost-laugh building up in his throat because that was impossible, he was still in the shower; his tears mixed with the water until he switched it off. 

He pulled on his pants and then gave up, feeling drained. Minutes passed as he sat on one of the benches in the shower room, the damp towel thrown over his head like it could protect him from the universe of challenges ahead. To think that he would come to rely on a flimsy piece of alien fabric for comfort was humiliating. In the past month, whenever he’d started to feel like this, he’d gone to Keith. Even if it was late at night Keith had always opened the door for him. Half the time Lance had just gone over there to mess with him, or at least he’d sometimes claimed that – somehow, Keith could always see through him. Even if Lance was just messing around he never once turned him away, not after everything that had happened.

He couldn’t do that today. That connection was out of his reach, utterly and completely. He couldn’t even get a hug from his _Mamá._ If he were at home he would have never felt this way. He had far too many siblings and cousins and aunts and uncles to ever let his sadness go unnoticed. And although the Paladins, Allura and Coran had become his family too, it wasn’t the same. They couldn’t offer the same reassurance. 

To some extent, Keith could.

But not today.

Lance sucked in a great, trembling breath and let it back out. It would do him no good to work himself up like this. He tried to focus on his breathing, on the steady in and out of it, and listened for any noises that could ground him. There was the ever-present hum of the ship and a dripping from the showers; the steadiness of it calmed him.

When some of the tension left his mind, he found that he could recall his mother’s voice again. 

He finished getting dressed with his mind on autopilot. He even brushed his hair, lingering in the bathroom for as long as he could. When he left to pick up his suit and helmet, he noticed that his communications light was flashing. He lifted his helmet up. “Hey, what’s going on?”

 _“Lance!”_ Coran shouted. “Have you got Keith with you? That little rascal has run off!”

Lance’s heart sunk. “What do you mean he’s run off? He can’t even walk!” Lance shouted, rushing from the bathroom. “Where is he?”

A thousand awful possibilities ran through his mind. What if Keith got hurt? What if someone had snuck aboard the ship and taken him? What if he walked into the generator room and fell into the bottomless pit that hung beneath the generator crystal? What if he electrocuted himself on something? Lance had never felt so panicked.

As he rounded the corner, something suddenly appeared under his feet. He twisted to avoiding stepping on it and in the process tripped over his own shoes, falling to the ground with a loud grunt as he did. “What the…?” He twisted around to stare behind him.

Keith stared back at him.

“Keith, _que niño travieso!”_ Lance exclaimed, heart hammering as he jumped to his knees to pull Keith into his arms. _“Me tenías preocupado!_ Don’t ever wander off again, okay?”

Dark eyes blinked up at him. Keith clearly didn’t have a clue what he was saying but Lance didn’t care as he cuddled Keith closer. His heart was still hammering in his chest like it wanted to leap into his throat and he couldn’t help but let out a breathless noise, sagging.

“I found him,” he said into his helmet. “Don’t worry.”

He only listened long enough to hear Coran’s shouts of relief before setting his helmet aside. He shifted to lean against the wall and tilted his head back, his knees drawn up to support the bulk of Keith’s weight. He felt exhausted enough to pass out.

A tiny hand touched his cheek. “Lance,” Keith said.

His cheeks were probably still wet, Lance thought. Maybe his eyes were red, too. They got like that when he cried; he was a real ugly crier. “I’m alright,” he said, sniffing once before he forced a smile. “I’m alright.”

It was a lie and Keith seemed to know it. He stared at Lance harder, frowning, before flopping forwards to rest his cheek against Lance’s chest. Lance didn’t know if it was intentional but Keith’s head was resting above his heart and it was such an affectionate gesture that the tears started to fall again. He hated himself for it but there was no one around to see him so he let himself be vulnerable. He knew he’d feel better once he’d worked it out of his system.

While he could, he held Keith close. He cupped the back of Keith’s head with one hand and wrapped the other around him completely, making sure to support Keith’s weight as best as he could. Having Keith around was certainly more comforting than having no Keith, and as Lance glanced him over once, he wondered how Keith had found him. The knees of his pants and Keith’s little hands were smeared with dirt so he must have crawled, but that didn’t explain how Keith had made his way to exactly where Lance was, or why he had done it.

For once, Lance didn’t bother trying to figure Keith out. He was here and Lance was gonna take advantage of all the cuddling he could.

 

Lunch came and went in much the same fashion as it had the other days. Lance fed Keith a whole bowl full of pureed alien vegetables and listened to the easy conversation of his friends. It seemed that Pidge’s modifications were almost complete, so once everyone had finished eating he left the table. The others stayed, though, knowing there was no point in leaving when they would all have to gather soon anyway.

Thankfully, the conversation never strayed to a topic were Lance had to be too actively involved. Today, he was content to do nothing more than listen and hold Keith as he shook around his favourite rattle.

Eventually Pidge returned with the modified psychic equipment and they were all directed to the infirmary. “You have to be unconscious for it to work, so we have to watch your vitals,” Pidge had explained. “I want to be as careful as possible with this.”

Lance didn’t complain. When they reached the infirmary he took a seat on one of the patient beds and patiently watched as Pidge hooked up the headset to Keith first. It was a little too big for his head and Keith clearly did not like wearing it. He tried to shake it off once, but a light-hearted scold from Shiro made him stop. Like Lance said, Shiro would make a really good Dad one day, even if he didn’t believe it.

Pidge hooked up Lance next. The headset was very similar to the one they usually used, but this one had something that looked like a battery pack connected to the side. There were extra sensors placed on the inner edge of the band that he could feel pressing against his head. Once that was in place, Pidge had Shiro take Keith to sit on the bed beside Lance’s before hooking up the two headpieces with these little sensors. They would transmit the electrical pulses. He turned it on once to test the connection, offering it a faux electrical pulse, and was pleased with electricity sparked to create a thin, pulsing blue line between the two headpieces. 

“Alright, everything is in working order,” Pidge said, nodding to himself. “Allura, do you want to hook them up to the monitors?”

Allura did so, with Coran to help her. Their advanced technology used scanners like the ones in the baby capsule to continuously monitor the patient’s vitals. It only required Lance to wear a special cuff that would convey the information to a monitor after performing each scan on his body. 

When that was done, Pidge instructed Lance to lay down. “We’ll give you an injection to induce sleep,” he said, “so try to relax. It won’t hurt.”

“That’s not comforting coming from you,” Lance teased, unable to help himself. 

Pidge scowled. “Okay, just for that, it _will_ hurt.”

Despite what Pidge said, it didn’t really hurt Lance all that much. Allura pressed the injector to his inner wrist and with a small sound of hissing air and a short prickling sensation against his skin, it was done. Getting flu injections back on Earth had hurt a lot more.

“You might feel a little disorientated at first,” Pidge said, “but just try to remember that it’s not your memories you’re experiencing. Don’t let yourself get stressed, alright?”

“Alright,” Lance agreed. He was already starting to feel drowsy. “What if I wanna wake up?”

“We can rouse you,” Allura assured him, “and we will if anything on our end starts to appear like it’s going wrong. We’ll take care of you, Lance.”

“Don’t take care ’f me,” Lance slurred, closing his eyes as he felt sleep encompass into his mind. “Take care of Keith.”

 

When he became aware of what he was seeing, he was surrounded by darkness. He blinked several times, wondering if his eyes were just closed, but the more he awakened the clearer the images became.

At first, he was looking at himself. His vision was coloured with a stinging tone of worry that made the bags under his eyes look deep and the frown on his face look troublesome. He was lying on the infirmary bed, and he looked taller than usual. He must be seeing what Keith was seeing.

As abruptly as he realised that, the image changed. He saw a ceiling held high above him, completely and utterly plain in its existence. Dark, blurry shapes leaned over him and he could hear voices but they were muffled and their words were hard to understand. A feeling of familiarity washed over him and deep down he knew Keith must know these people – they were learning over his crib. Where they his parents?

Tersely, they drew away. Loneliness overwhelmed him as Keith let out a whimper that spoke of cries incoming, but a sharp, chastising shout from one of the distant figures stopped it in its tracks. Lance couldn’t help but panic in the face of Keith’s suffocating emotions. They were so much like the ones he remember from being stuck as a baby that it was terrifying.

The image shifted. He was in a room, but it was bare and cold. Keith’s childhood room, maybe. There were loud, steady sounds from outside and he almost started to believe it was a monster. Slowly, the door to the room creaked open and he saw a pair of boots approach. They were black and army-regulation, like the ones the commanding officers at the garrison wore.

The person in the books took Keith away. 

A rush of confusing memories swept through his mind. There were bruises on his face and on his knuckles and lips bleeding from being bitten and nights spent clenching his fists so hard that little cuts on his palms welled with blood. He was lonely and scared and there was no one around who had stayed with him for long. His memories of his parents were not fond, but frightened, and the garrison was the awful place where he was shoved off onto so that he could be watched and made strong and desirable and useful.

It was so shockingly different from Lance’s own childhood that he felt his insides start to twist and rebel against seeing any more. He was angry and scared and shaken and alone and it was like every function in his body was abruptly shutting down because of it.

Suddenly his eyes were opening, properly opening, but the air he frantically sucked in tasted stale. His stomach churned – he heaved, jerking, unsure if he had been awoken or if he were still trapped in Keith’s memories.

Darkness descended like a crashing wave and he welcome it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Keith, que niño travieso!_ \- Keith, you naughty boy!  
>  _Me tenías preocupado!_ \- You had me worried!
> 
> Again, I'm not familiar with Spanish, so please correct me if anything is wrong and I will fix it! ^^


	6. Day Five

It was well into the early morning when Lance woke up. It was a painful process, one that made his eyelids feel heavy and his head swim in murkiness. He groaned as his mind surfaced from sleep, lifting a hand to clutch at his head. There was a prominent throbbing behind his temples that made him feel like he’d been whacked across the back of his head really hard. 

He was still in the infirmary. As he sat up to blink at the dark room he wondered why he was here, but it wasn’t hard to remember. He’d seen Keith’s memories. What he didn’t understand, however, was why he’d slept for so long. He thought he’d wake up before dinner, but he clearly hadn’t.

Shiro was seated in a chair beside Lance’s bed. As Lace sat up he stirred, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. “Lance, you’re awake! How are you feeling?”

Lance groaned. “My head hurts,” he complained, voice hoarse. “Where’s Keith?”

Shiro urged him to lay back down with gentle hands. “You need to take it easy, Lance,” he said firmly. “You’ve been asleep for almost thirteen hours.”

He closed his eyes, wincing. Thirteen hours was a long time to sleep. He knew that the injection Allura gave him had played some part in it, but the predominant cause must have been Keith’s memories. They were not good ones. When Lance recalled them he felt intimidated, like he was five feet smaller. It was as though those memories were black hands burrowing into his brain and his heart, content to frighten him for all their worth. Even when Lance tried to banish them they lingered like a cold draft. He wondered if they would ever leave.

“Where’s Keith?” He asked again.

“Hunk and Pidge took him to the kitchens for his morning feed,” Shiro explained. “Allura should have been alerted that you’ve awaken, so just sit tight for now, alright?”

Lance didn’t really think he had an option, so he didn’t complain. He’d slept for so long but he still felt tired, as though he hadn’t truly slept at all. More than wanting to know what had happened, he wanted to see Keith. Sharing his memories surely couldn’t have been easy on him. Lance just wanted to know he was alright. 

Allura walked in a moment later. Her hair was tied up and she was dressed in casual clothes. She had probably been sleeping while she had the chance. “Lance, you’re awake!” She said, pleased. “How are you feeling?”

“My head hurts,” he repeated. “Can you make it not hurt?”

She chuckled, sounding relieved, and pressed her hand to his forehead. Her skin was pleasantly cold. “I can,” she said. “Just sit tight and calm yourself, alright? Everything will be better soon.”

He hummed. Allura fiddled with the scanner again and as his data was compiled she offered him tablets from one of the cabinets in the room. He swallowed them dry and made a face at the awful taste. Of course alien medicine would taste awful. At least earthen medicine tablets tasted like nothing.

“Looks like everything is returning to normal,” Allura said. “You gave as quite a scare.”

“What happened?”

Allura frowned to herself. “We don’t quite know, but you entered a state of sleep from which we could not rouse you. I was almost tempted to put you in a healing pod to see if that would help.”

“Pidge said nothing went wrong with the equipment, but that the neural load – the connection – might have been too strenuous,” Shiro explained. “He’s working on placing mediators on the headpieces now.”

“Alright,” Lance said, nodding. “It’s not his fault, anyway. Pidge knows it’s not his fault, right?”

Shiro paused. “I think so. He’s usually more rational than that.”

Lance nodded again. That was true, but he still worried about Pidge sometimes. They were friends, after all, and had been for a long time. “What about Keith?”

“Keith is stressed,” Allura said, her voice slow and her words careful. “He wouldn’t sleep and has yet to do so, and he wouldn’t eat dinner. Hunk is hoping he can convince him to eat his breakfast feed.”

“But he can’t get stressed,” Lance worried, “it’s not good for him.”

“We know,” Allura said. “We’ve done all that we can but he missed you terribly. I think he’s frightened for you.”

Lance’s heart lurched, and he struggled to sit up again. The pain in his head was slowly fading thanks to the Altean medicine, but it hadn’t completely left him yet. “When is Hunk coming back with him? I can make him feel better.”

“He and Pidge should be back soon,” Shiro said. “Just be patient, Lance. You know we’d never let anything too bad happen to him.”

Of course he knew that. He trusted the other Paladins and the Alteans with his life, but this was Keith they were talking about. He couldn’t stop the panic that swelled in his throat. It didn’t help that Keith had missed a meal, knowing how much that kid liked to eat. Hungry babies never missed the chance to eat unless there was something really wrong.

Eventually, Hunk and Pidge did return. Lance could hear their footsteps before he could see them, but soon enough the doors to the infirmary hissed open. Pidge was carrying a full bottle that looked like not even a single sip had been drunk from it, and he had an irritated, tired frown on his face. Hunk walked behind him, carrying a fidgeting, red-cheeked Keith. 

“Lance!” Keith cried the moment he saw Lance sitting upright. He squirmed in Hunk’s arms more, going so far as to try and push him away as frustrated noises began to spill from his pouted lips. “No!” He shouted at Hunk.

“You’re awake!” Hunk exclaimed, eyes widening.

Lance held his hands out. “Give me the baby,” he said, not unkindly. Hunk handed Keith over without complaint, relief colouring his face. Keith’s tiny fingers gripped clumps of Lance’s hair with a surprisingly amount of force as he shoved his wet face into Lance’s neck. He hadn’t been crying but Lance could tell his eyes were watery. The thought that Keith was so distraught over him was like a fork to the heart. Not a knife, but an evil little three-pronged fork.

“Maybe you can get him to eat,” Pidge said, handing the warm bottle to Lance. “I’m glad to see you’re awake again.”

Lance offered him a weak smile. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

Pidge only shook his head. “What did you see, anyway?”

Lance tensed, cringing again. He felt like Pidge had asked him some deep, personal question, the kind of question one should never ask another person. Not only was he unwilling to share the secret, but it wasn’t _his_ secret to tell. What if Keith didn’t remember any of it when he was normal? He’d never even hinted about anything Lance had seen, and he’d never acted like it had any negative, lasting effects. Sure, Keith was just as lonely as Lance sometimes, but that was because he hadn’t had the same family life as Lance.

Not because he’d been neglected like he had. That was a whole different can of worms that Lance didn’t want to open in front of everyone on the ship without Keith’s permission. He felt like there was more at stake than just childhood memories.

“It’s hard to explain,” he finally said. “The memories were confusing, and… _muffled._ I don’t think Keith was really focusing on them too hard. It was really overwhelming,” he said, turning his head to the side to frown, despondent. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

He’d never been gladder to have the bond with the Paladins than he did then, when Shiro only gave him an understanding look. “You’ll come to us if you need anything, right?” Shiro said. “None of us will turn you away.”

“I know,” Lance whispered. “Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. Seriously.”

Shiro ruffled his hair once, just a little. It was a teasing gesture. “Alright, you work on calming Keith down and try to get some sleep. I think the rest of us should, too,” Shiro said, turning to address the others. “We’ll have to take turns coming down to check on Lance every half an hour, just to make sure that nothing’s gone wrong. Is that alright?”

Hunk, Pidge and Allura nodded. “I’ll inform Coran of what has happened,” Allura said as she turned to leave. “I am glad to see you feeling better now, Lance. Get some rest.”

He received similar farewells from his fellow Paladins before he was left alone. He shifted back to rest against his pillows and sighed, cuddling Keith closer. Keith was still making little, pitiful sniffling noises and his grip in Lance’s hair had only gotten tighter. He was almost trembling; Lance had never felt so much tension in just one tiny body. 

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” Lance murmured, running his hand up and down Keith’s back reassuringly. “No need to cry, _nene.”_

Keith sniffled again, wiping his nose against Lance’s neck. It was kind of gross but he didn’t complain, not when Keith was acting so fragile. 

“You gotta eat, though,” Lance said. He drew Keith back despite Keith’s miserable whimpers and reached for the bottle. “You hungry at all? You probably are. With a chubby tummy like yours, you’re probably starving.”

Keith grizzled at him, his hands pawing at Lance’s shirt with a frantic sense of need. He stared at Lance with watery eyes and a furious, frightened frown that pulled on Lance’s heartstrings. 

“Now, now, don’t start crying on me,” he said, giving Keith a waning smile. He offered Keith the bottle. “Eat a little? For me?”

Keith frowned at the bottle like he was going to reject it, but when his eyes lifted to meet Lance’s he gave in. Lance sighed, relieved, and relaxed into his pillows. Knowing that Keith would finally eat something was reassuring. Eating meant he wasn’t as stressed, and less stress meant he would heal better. 

Though he didn’t drink all of the bottle, Keith drank enough of it to satisfy Lance. It was probably lukewarm and therefore not as nice as usual, so he didn’t complain. When Keith had clearly had enough of it he set the bottle aside and wiped at Keith’s mouth and cheeks with the edge of the blanket. Keith was still staring at him – he hadn’t looked away, actually – but his eyelids were starting to get droopy. He was clearly exhausted if he hadn’t slept since he woke up yesterday.

“Time for a nap, I think,” Lance said. He was tired too, even though he’d slept for so long. Soon someone would be by to check on them and although he knew they would never push him, he really didn’t want to talk. Sleep was the best way to avoid that.

He turned onto his side and used one arm to cradle Keith. He knew Keith would be upset if he tried to put him in a crib or separate bed, so he didn’t. It was easier just to hold him, and being this close to Lance seemed to lure him to sleep easier, especially after Lance pulled the blankets up far enough to cover Keith’s knees. 

“Try and get some sleep,” Lance told him around a yawn. “If I’m exhausted, then I know you must be too, hmm?”

Keith whined at him. He still had that frightfully worried frown puckering his brow, so Lance lifted a hand to smooth it out. The action, for what it was worth, seemed to relax Keith. When he thought Keith was sleepy enough, Lance leaned forwards to press a kiss to his forehead.

“Goodnight, Keith.”

 

Lance slept right through breakfast; no one disturbed him. He was awake and famished by lunch time, however, so he joined the table after Allura had given him the all-clear. Even though Lance still preferred the food from Earth, the alien food looked mighty delicious when he was so hungry. 

He fed Keith first, though. Hunk had prepared a bottle and a bowl full of the sweetest pureed mush they had, which everyone knew Keith favoured. Thankfully, he’d eaten everything Lance had offered him. It seemed his appetite was returning now that he was well-rested, which Lance was thankful for. He didn’t know what he would have done if Keith had remained as stressed as he was. They might have had to put him in the healing pod several days early, which definitely wouldn’t have been good for his health.

“Did I miss anything while I was out of it?” Lance asked when Keith was finally satisfied and he could begin to eat his own meal.

Allura frowned as she took a sip from her glass of water. “I’m concerned about Galra ships finding us again,” she said. “We’re lucky to have lasted this long undetected, but they know their blast would have affected at least one of us. They surely must be aware that we cannot form Voltron in this state.”

Shiro frowned. “There isn’t much we can do to avoid detection that we’re not already doing,” he said. “We just need to keep hidden until we can get Keith back up and running.”

“He seems better, now,” Allura said, pleased. “How is he, Lance? I heard he’s talking now.”

“A little,” Lance admitted. He felt disappointed now that their little secret was out, but at least he could freely brag about it now. It was his name that Keith had first said, after all. Not anybody else’s. _His._

“Perhaps we should work on making him laugh next,” Allura said. “Laughter is good medicine, after all. My Father used to tell me that all the time when I was upset.”

Lance smiled fondly – they all did. Allura had started talking about her father more, her voice and choice of subject warm. It was nice to see her happy again. “He doesn’t really seem like the laughing type,” Lance said, glancing down at Keith who peered back up at him, passive, “but I’m sure I could do it!”

“Lance _is_ our resident baby whisperer,” Pidge teased.

“Damn right I am! Keith loves me the best, don’t you Keith?” He cooed, lifting Keith up to nuzzle against his soft cheek. “I’m your favourite!”

As if to reply, Keith gripped a fistful of Lance’s hair, holding him close. It made Lance smile smugly. Sure, he might have had a heck of an advantage over the others when it came to being Keith’s favourite, but he didn’t care. If anything, the others didn’t seem offended by his actions or words – just amused. 

“I’ll be moving the castle to a new location today,” Allura said as they cleared away the dishes after eating. “I feel as though we’ve lingered here too long.”

“I want to continue deconstructing the de-ageing monster,” Pidge said, “so I’ll give training a miss.”

“Alright,” Shiro nodded, “good luck. Looks like the rest of you are coming down to the training deck with me.”

Lance spluttered. “Me too? But I just woke up from some freaky alien coma!”

“Don’t blame everything on the aliens, Lance,” Pidge sung as he exited the room, snickering all the while. Lance sent his retreating back a withering glare. Pidge’s snark was utterly flabbergasting sometimes.

“Come on, Lance,” Shiro sighed, “you know you can’t fall behind. It won’t be for too long, only a couple hours.”

Anxiously, Lance held Keith closer. Keith made a curious noise, blinking up at Lance owlishly. Lance couldn’t look at him. He didn’t want to put Keith down, not just yet. His instincts were telling him not to let Keith go, that he was still upset or sick or fragile. He could remember ghostly feelings of panic and fright when he himself had been put down as a child. He didn’t want Keith to feel that overwhelming vulnerability, not when Lance knew first-hand what it was like. It wasn’t anything good.

But he knew the value of Shiro’s words, too. Lance hadn’t trained much without all four of the other Paladins present. To him, they’d always been a package deal; it was hard for him to comprehend that one day he might not have four people standing at his back during a battle. It would be vital that during that time he knew how to take care of himself and whoever he was with. Shiro was right – he needed to train with them. The fact that he’d just woken up from being wounded (if that was what he could call it) was inconsequential.

That didn’t mean he had to like it, though. 

“It’ll be alright, Lance,” Shiro said, putting his hand on Lance’s shoulder. He tended to do that a lot to comfort the other Paladins – unsurprisingly, coming from Shiro, it worked complete wonders. “It will only be for a little while.”

“I know,” Lance sighed. “The last time I left him he wandered off, though. What if he gets himself into trouble?”

“You know Coran won’t make the same mistake twice,” Shiro reasoned. “He’ll be safe, and we’ll be done in a couple of hours, and then we can relax.”

Lance nodded. As per usual, Shiro was right. He didn’t want to think about what the Paladins would be like without Shiro’s confident guidance. Sure, he had his weak moments, but they all did. Lance trusted him more for it – if Shiro had seemed unshakable, then maybe the times when he was weak would have made the others question his judgment or be mistrustful of him. Somehow, even with his fragile moments, Shiro was the more stable one of them all.

It was with a great deal of reluctance that Lance handed Keith over to Coran. It took a moment for him to untangle Keith’s fingers from his hair before he could draw away.

Keith stared at him. He had that puzzled scowl on his face again, and his arm reached out. He waved his hand, trying to lean back into Lance’s grip the way that all babies did, but Lance didn’t take him. 

“Let’s just go,” Lance mumbled sourly. He hated turning his back on Keith when Keith looked at him like that, but he did.

As they went to leave, a sudden, loud cry stopped him. Lance whipped around, feeling like he’d been punched in the stomach. Keith started wailing, fat teardrops spilling over his eyelids to roll down his cheeks. Each cry tore at Lance like a physical wound – they were the cries of a frightened, lonely child and he could not resist them.

Keith had never cried before, not like this. This was sobbing. This was fear in its purest form – fear of being hurt, fear of being lonely, fear of being abandoned by _Lance_ the same way everyone else had ever abandoned him. 

Lance did not go to training that day. 

He didn’t put Keith down again.


	7. Day Six

Keith was very quiet the next day. Lance had spent the previous afternoon and the entire night with him – he hadn’t put Keith down for more than a minute, and only gave him up so he could be changed and put into his pyjamas. Even then Keith had whimpered and become teary-eyed, so much so that he fought and squirmed against Shiro’s grip impatiently. 

Lance knew that Keith’s time as a child was coming to an end. When he experienced the same problem, he remembered the final day being very uncomfortable. He hadn’t felt right in his own skin, like it was too small and only shrinking further with every passing moment, and nothing had really soothed him. Sure, he’d felt better with Keith holding him, but the problem wasn’t external. It was internal. He’d just wanted it to stop.

After breakfast, during which Keith only drank his bottle, Keith fell asleep. Granted, Lance didn’t really think he was awake enough to eat the pureed vegetables – his eyes had long since slipped closed while he was drinking. It was ridiculously cute, even if he did make a mess of himself when his mouth fell slack. 

But Lance cleaned him up and carried him down to the nursery so that Allura could scan him. He really didn’t like that weird baby incubator, but Keith was napping so he didn’t notice that he’d been put in it. Allura had said that his scans were starting to show that he’d begin re-ageing within the next day or two, but he was otherwise healthy. As long as he continued to eat he should be fine, which Lance was glad for.

Predictably, he was excused from training that day. There was no way Shiro could have convinced him to leave Keith anyway, so he didn’t try. Lance felt guilty over it, like he wasn’t pulling his own weight around the castle, so he made himself a promise to make up for it elsewhere as soon as he could. 

Lance relaxed in the common room while Keith napped. He made quite a cute picture, nestled in Lance’s arms with his little fists curled together. In fact, Lance did take a photo with the camera Pidge had given him. Its memory drive was almost full, now. 

When Lance was little, he remembered that his mother and his father used to sing to him. The songs were lullabies voiced in their native tongue; he’d been sung them so many times that the words were permanently etched in his mind. Now, watching Keith’s restful face plagued with short moments of discomfort and encroaching pain made him remember those words. Neither of his parents could sing marvellously well, and neither could he.

But that didn’t stop them.

And it didn’t stop him.

Keith seemed to appreciate it, at least. His troubled expressions smoothed out and he slept peacefully. Lance felt better for it; singing the lullabies that lulled him to sleep many nights as child was a comforting, nostalgic experience. Sure, he wasn’t the best singer, but that didn’t matter to him. Maybe he should sing for Keith more often if it made him sleep this well. And because he enjoyed it, too, though he’d never admit that out loud. It was too embarrassing.

Hunk came to check on him a little while before lunch. Keith was awake by then, seated on the couch between Lance’s legs with his rattle in hand. Hunk took a picture of them when Lance wasn’t looking and showed it to him. “I see you’re both feeling better now,” he said, taking a seat beside Lance. “How are you doing?”

Lance was surprised that Hunk hadn’t asked after Keith. That’s what the others did; what he did, too. He hadn’t even stopped to think about himself. “I- I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I’m alright, I guess.”

Hunk hummed. “Has your headache completely gone now?”

Lance nodded, quiet. 

“That’s good, at least,” Hunk said. He peered at Lance closer, and a small frown came to his face. “Lance? You sure you’re alright?”

He wanted to tell Hunk that he was, but he didn’t think it was true. He’d never really lied to Hunk before. Sure, he pushed Hunk around and shoved him into situations outside of Hunk’s comfort zone, but if Hunk ever so much as told him to stop he would. He knew his boundaries around Hunk better than he knew the back of his hand. 

“I don’t know, Hunk,” he eventually said. Absently, he lifted one of Keith’s little hands, pressing the pad of his thumb into Keith’s palm where it fit perfectly. “I just kind of want Keith back, you know? No more baby stuff. Don’t get me wrong though, I do enjoy having him like this, but I miss the normal Keith a lot more.”

“I understand,” Hunk said. “It’s alright if you want him back, Lance. It doesn’t mean you love this Keith any less. Don’t think that anything you’re feeling is wrong, alright? Because I know it’s not.”

Lance gave him a weak smile. “Thanks, man. You always say the right things.”

Hunk gave him a grin. “Well, I try.”

Lance snorted. Startled by the noise, Keith’s head jerked around to face him. It looked like it might roll off his neck any second and Lance could only snort again. He wiggled his fingers into Keith’s collar – he was wearing a blue sweater today with a matching blue beanie, much to Lance’s delight – and smiled when Keith started doing his signature huffing laughter again. “And what are you looking at, huh?” He teased. 

Satisfied with the attention he’d been given, Keith returned to playing with his rattle. He wasn’t playing with it so much as he was simply holding it, but Lance thought it was the thought that counted.

“You’re really good with kids,” Hunk said. “There are a lot in your family, right?”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, being good with babies and kids is kind of a prerequisite in my family,” he laughed quietly. “Even if you’re not, you learn to be eventually. There are too many children around not to learn.”

“Sounds nice,” Hunk smiled. He reached forwards to fix Keith’s beanie. “It’s different having a baby around here.”

Lance nodded in agreement. “Reminds me of home.”

Hunk hummed again. They both watched Keith for a moment, who did nothing more than stare at his rattle like it held all the answers to the universe, before Hunk stood. “I should probably go start preparing lunch before Coran tries to feed us nothing but green alien goo again,” he said. 

After a second of hesitation, he leaned down to give Lance a hug. It was a warm, affectionate gesture, one that Lance willingly returned. Hunk’s hugs were the best, hands down.

“Don’t worry too much Lance, it’ll all sort itself out,” Hunk said as he drew away. “See you at lunch.”

Talking with Hunk like that always made Lance feel better. Hunk always said the right thing and he never judged Lance for anything he felt. He never made Lance’s feelings seem invalid or irrational – he just accepted them, and did his absolute best to help Lance work through them. There was no one kinder or more generous with affection in the entire universe than Hunk. 

With a loud sigh, Lance flopped down on the couch. Keith’s attention was drawn by the action, and after a moment he crawled over to flop down beside Lance, too. His cheek was pressed against the couch cushion and his big eyes watched Lance with such an expectant look that Lance couldn’t help but laugh. 

“You make the funniest expressions,” he sound, lifting a hand to run his knuckles down Keith’s cheek. “Lucky I’ve got photos to prove it, huh? You wouldn’t believe me otherwise, when you’re all grown up again.”

Keith huffed at him, squirming like the touch had tickled him. Lance grinned and did it again, sitting up a little to press both of his hands to Keith’s chubby cheeks. Keith made that huffing noise again, but it was louder this time, and so close to a real laugh that Lance could almost taste it. He insistently ran his thumbs across Keith’s rosy cheeks, tickling his fingers into the hair behind Keith’s ears as he did, and that’s when it happened.

Keith _laughed._

It was a sharp sound, like his cry had been, but it wasn’t sad or upset. Laughter bubbled up and spilled out of his mouth like rays of sunshine and blossoming flowers and everything pure and good in the world combined. It was an infectious sound, one that had Lance positively beaming. To think that Keith was _laughing,_ was giggling and making such happy sounds had his heart beating like crazy. Had Keith ever looked this happy before? Had anyone? He didn’t think so. It just couldn’t be possible.

“Oh, you sweet child,” Lance cooed, lifting Keith up to press a kiss to his cheek. “Aren’t you just so cute? You’ve been holding out on me all this time, Keith!”

Keith only giggled at him, waving a chubby hand to press his palm against Lance’s face the same way Lance had done to him. It made Lance laugh to himself. Who knew Keith would make such an adorable child? Then, Keith suddenly leaned himself forwards to plant a big, wet kiss right on Lance’s cheek. For a moment Lance didn’t know what exactly had happened, but then it hit him and he let out an ungodly noise.

“Keith!” He whined without anything better to say, his face bright red. He shouldn’t have been embarrassed – Keith was only mimicking Lance’s behaviour – but he definitely was. There was something decidedly pure and light hearted about Keith’s affections and the way he giggled at Lance’s flustering. The ache in Lance’s heart was lifting, even if just by a little. 

It made Lance greedy for more.

 

Lunch passed surprisingly well. Hunk and Coran served everyone their food, including a bowl of pureed fruit for Keith, and everyone ate their fill. Keith didn’t quite finish the whole bowl like he usually would have, but Lance didn’t mention it. Everyone seemed to notice anyway – they must have known it was because the end of Keith’s baby-week was approaching. 

“How are things going with the ship?” Shiro asked as Coran went around to collect their plates. Lance was still trying to convince Keith to finish his bowl, so Coran left the fruit puree on the table. 

Allura frowned, and folded her fingers together. She was silent for a moment, thinking. “I am afraid that the Galra might know our location,” she said. “It’s been far too long since we saw them, especially considering our track record. Not to mention Keith will begin his re-growth process soon, which means time is running out for their attack.”

Shiro frowned too. “Have you found somewhere where we can dock the castle for a week and a half?” he asked.

“Yes,” Allura said, “but I cannot assure it will stay undetected for that long. We might need to move halfway through the re-growth progress, which won’t be good. I would prefer if we remained stationary, but…”

“What has to be done has to be done,” Shiro finished for her. “Are there any Galra stations nearby us right now?”

Allura nodded. “Yes,” she said again, “several, in fact. They appeared dormant or unused which is why I guided the castle here, but activity has begun to pick up in the last few hours. It’s what has me thinking that perhaps word about our location has reached Zarkon.” 

“We should leave here as soon as possible.”

“I agree.”

It was worrying for Lance to think the Galra were so close. If they got their hands on Keith… He didn’t know what he’d do. It was his responsibility to look after Keith, to make sure he was protected and comforted and content while he was vulnerable like this. Lance felt like it was a deeply personal matter that fell primarily to his shoulders. It had been him who cared for Keith the most intimately, after all.

He knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to Keith, baby or otherwise. Sure they’d only been together for a month, but their relationship was deeper than that. They’d been working together in conjunction with Voltron for ages and they’d had their rivalry back at the garrison. Not to mention Keith had looked after him when he was stuck as a baby. That had to count for something, didn’t it?

Lance shook his head to clear his thoughts. He couldn’t second guess or doubt himself like that. What Hunk had said was true – there was nothing wrong with how he felt. It was just how he felt, and that was that. That seemed like something he should probably tell Keith when Keith had re-grown. 

He just hoped nothing bad would happen.

 

That evening, after dinner, Lance went straight to bed. Shiro took Keith to be changed before bringing him to Lance’s room where he left them with a small, comforting smile that went a lot further than he probably expected it did.

Keith seemed more upset that night. He fidgeted and his cheeks had two red spots of colour that slowly spread out the longer Lance stared. He looked uncomfortable and a little frightened, so Lance didn’t put him back into his crib.

“You’ll be alright,” he told Keith as he gently laid beside Keith on his bed. Keith stared at him expectedly, scowling like he usually did. Lance stroked his cheek absentmindedly. “You like to scowl a lot, huh? My _Mamá_ often said that babies who scowled always grow up to have the prettiest smiles. I think she was right, you know.”

Keith only stared at him, blinking curiously. The scowl on his face was slowly unwinding into something gentler, almost reminiscent of a smile. He seemed very interested in watching Lance.

“I think she’d really like you,” Lance continued. “The whole family would, probably. They can always tell when people have good hearts. I haven’t ever really told them I like guys just as much as I like girls, you know. I mean, I’m pretty sure they know, but I’ve never said it.”

Keith made a small noise at him.

Lance chuckled, and lifted his hand to run his fingers through Keith’s soft hair. “I hope they can meet you one day,” he said. “I’m sort of afraid that they won’t. Like, maybe I’ll mess us up so badly that you’ll never say you love me. That no one will ever say that, or that something will happen and one of us will never return from Voltron. That neither of us will. It scares me a lot.”

He sighed. He didn’t think he could ever tell the normal Keith this, though he didn’t know why. He wanted to, but something always stopped him. Whatever it was, it felt immovable. 

“Don’t worry Keith,” he finally said, pressing a tender kiss against Keith’s forehead, “I’ll protect you.”

“Lance,” Keith murmured sleepily.

He got up to switch off the lights before turning to bed. He hoped Keith would wake up for his morning feed, but he wouldn’t know until the time came so he tried not to worry about it too much. “Let’s try and get some rest, alright Keith? Goodnight, buddy.”

“Lance,” Keith murmured again. He pressed his lips to his palm before reaching up to plant it against Lance’s cheek. It was a little wet and kind of gross but perfect in every way. It warmed Lance’s heart like nothing else ever had.

“Yeah, I’m here, Keith. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

That night, he sung his childhood lullabies to Keith until they both fell asleep and he felt all the more better for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super cute [fanart](http://coco-code.tumblr.com/post/148248152987/catch-me-if-you-can-has-warmed-my-cold-fragile) by coco-code  
> and more [super cute art](http://tochennie.tumblr.com/post/148262706234/please-read-this-fic-and-this-fic-pleaselove) by tochennie ^//w//^


	8. Day Seven

Fortunately, Keith did wake up for his early morning feed the next day. He did not, however, eat as much as he usually did, which made Lance feel restless and worried. This would probably be the last day that Keith could remain out of the healing pod before his regrowth began. It would be too painful, otherwise.

At breakfast, Keith did eat again, though he ate even less than he had earlier that morning. He winced every now and then and fidgeted a lot, so Lance knew that the growing pains were setting in. He encouraged Keith to eat as much as he could but didn’t push him when he started to get frustrated and teary-eyed over it. 

It gave Lance a chance to eat before the others finished and when he found himself with time before all plates had been cleared, he decided to distract Keith. It wasn’t particularly hard to do – Keith’s attention could be easily diverted to his rattle or to Lance himself, which was oddly flattering. 

That morning, he tried to get Keith to walk. He hadn’t yet – he’d only crawled – but Lance was sure he was old enough to use his legs, however chubby and little they may be. He had Keith standing on his lap for a while, Keith’s palms rested on top of his to keep him balanced. Keith just seemed to think it was a game, even when he wobbled and almost toppled over. Lance would never let that happen, of course, but it was still sometimes unavoidable. 

“I know you can do it, _nene,”_ Lance said. _“Puedes tratar? Por mí?”_

Keith peered at him, frowning. It was the same puzzled expression he always wore when Lance spoke in Spanish. He wobbled a few tiny steps forwards, his tiny, sock-covered toes digging into Lance’s thighs as he did. “Lance,” he said. It sounded like a complaint, which made Lance snort. Of course Keith would still complain even as a child; he wouldn’t be _Keith_ if he didn’t. Somehow, it was oddly comforting. 

“What language are you speaking?” Allura asked, curious. 

_“Español,”_ Lance answered. 

“Another language from Earth?”

“Yeah,” he said. “My family is Spanish.”

He knew he wasn’t the only Paladin to speak a second language. Shiro was Japanese and Keith knew some Korean. Lance was pretty sure Hunk knew a second language as well, one that linked to his parentage, but he didn’t know exactly which one it was that he knew. Lance was kind of surprised that none of them had ever mentioned it to Allura before, especially not when language barriers with the Alteans had arisen a handful of times already.

“I’m amazed at the sheer number of languages present on Earth,” Allura mused. 

It was an interesting conversation. Lance only knew Spanish and English, and the other Paladins were the same with their respective languages. Allura seemed interested in learning them, just as interesting as she was in teaching the Paladins Altean. Lance didn’t think he had any more room in his head for an entirely new language. As they descended into a detailed conversation about the history of the Japanese language (Lance didn’t want to know how Shiro had memorized that) he turned his attention to Keith.

“You just have to put one foot in front of the other, buddy,” he said, moving Keith further back forwards his knees again. “Just one in front of the other, yeah?”

Keith only scowled at him like he was truly put out by Lance’s instructions. Nevertheless he did it, shakily wobbling forwards until he could flop against Lance’s chest like a ragdoll. He looked rather proud of himself for achieving it, too.

Lance couldn’t help but chuckle. “There you go, _nene,”_ he cooed. “Aren’t you just the smartest thing? I bet you can walk a lot farther than this, too!”

“Lance your baby talk is disgusting,” Pidge said, making a face.

“You’re just jealous that I get all the attention,” Lance smiled teasingly, lifting Keith to rub their noses together and delighting in the quiet giggle he received in return. “Isn’t that right, Keith? We’re making poor Pidge jealous.”

Pidge only rolled his eyes.

Eventually Lance moved Keith to the floor where he could set Keith down properly, on his own two feet. He made sure Keith was stable enough for him to draw away, only about an arm’s length, before gesturing for Keith to come closer.

Keith huffed at him. “Lance,” he said insistently, holding out his hands. He clearly expected Lance to pick him back up again, but Lance didn’t.

“Come on Keith, come here,” he urged, “you can do it.”

Keith frowned, but his want for Lance’s attention outweighed his apparent laziness. He took a cautious step and wobbled so much he almost fell, but didn’t. His arms flailed as his scowl deepened but he persevered, eventually stumbling his way straight into Lance’s hold the way he had before. Lance cheered, scooping Keith up into his arms to celebrate. 

“Good job!” He grinned. “You did so well!”

Spending time with Keith like that was relaxing. Lance enjoyed it a lot; liked that he didn’t need to stress about the universe or about Voltron any more than thinking about those worrying things in passing. He felt like he was free to care for Keith however he needed to and hoped that Keith would still let Lance worry about him when he was back to normal.

It must have been only an hour or so before lunch time when something went wrong. Lance was playing with Keith in the common room again, getting Keith to walk in exchange for kisses on the cheek and praises exclaimed in Spanish when a shockwave had rocked the castle. Lance scrambled to lift Keith into his arms, heart shaking.

Shiro was striding into the room seconds later, dressed in his suit and helmet. He had a frightfully fearful look on his face, one that told Lance something seriously wrong had happened.

“Shiro, what’s going on?” Lance fretted as Shiro directed him and Keith from the room.

“It’s the Galra,” Shiro said. “One of their fleets appeared out of a wormhole behind the castle. Allura is working on raising the particle barrier but it’s likely that some of their battle ships have already descended into the castle’s atmosphere. You need to suit up.”

“I can’t leave Keith,” he argued. “Not now. He’ll get too stressed!”

“Lance, this isn’t something we can handle without you,” Shiro said. His voice was urgent but persuasive – he wasn’t chastising Lance, just pointing out the truth. “We need to go.”

Lance gritted his teeth. “Alright, I know, I know. Where do I leave Keith?”

“Coran has a bassinet with him we can strap him into,” Shiro said. “I’ll take him, you go suit up and get down to the hangers.”

Lance nodded, lips pursed. He pressed a gentle kiss to Keith’s forehead. _“Voy a volver, lo prometo,”_ he whispered. “Don’t worry, Keith.”

He handed Keith to Shiro before he could change his mind. As if he could sense the growing tension, Keith cried out for him, squirming against Shiro’s arms. “Lance!” He whimpered. His voice was like a punch to the stomach, but Lance couldn’t stay to comfort him. The sooner they fixed this problem, the sooner he could return to Keith.

That was all he could think about when he turned his back to Keith and left.

 

“The particle barrier is up,” Allura said, her voice crackling through their helmets. “Their main fleet is at the south side of the castle, but it’s already released half of its battle ships.”

“Some must be trapped between the castle and the particle barrier,” Shiro said. His Lion drifted in front of Lance, hunched and ready to spring into action. “Hunk, Pidge, you find those ships and get rid of them before they board the castle. They’ll go for the hanger bays. Lance, you come with me. We’ll make sure no more get through.”

With that, they dispersed to follow Shiro’s orders. Lance urged Blue forwards, keeping close behind Shiro as they exited the particle barrier. Almost instantly they drew the attention of the Galra ship; a swarm of battle droids rushed closer, but they were easily enough to destroy. Soon there were metal scraps littering the space around them as Shiro and Lance drove onwards towards the main ship. If they could destroy that, or damage it enough for them to retreat, then they would be safe.

That in mind, Lance rolled his Lion down to the side to parallel the edge of the ship. The hanger bays for the battle droids came into view and his Lion let out a roar of frosty ice, freezing the mechanics in place. As droids tried to leave explosions rippled across the hangers, sending great plumes of smoke up along the hull of the ship.

“Shiro, the hangers on this side are taken care of,” he said into his helmet.

There was a corresponding explosion from the other side. “This side, too,” Shiro said. “We need to take out the engines.”

It was a sure fire way to get them to retreat. After battling their fleets so many times they’d become aware of the weak points that the Galra overlooked; engine vulnerability, for example, was incredibly high. If they destroyed the main, exposed engines on either side of the ship then the backup generators had to be used and the ship would either explode or retreat.

Lance raced his Lion up the right side of the ship. “I’m heading for the engines,” he said.

“Alright,” Shiro said. “Pidge, Hunk, what’s happening over there?”

For a moment neither of them answered. Then, Pidge spoke. “There’s too many for us to fight off!” He said. He sounded frustrated and exhausted and Lance felt his stomach drop through his feet. “They might have already got into the hanger bays.”

“Allura, do you have Keith?” Lance asked frantically, forcing his Lion to come to a grinding halt. “Allura!”

“I’m a bit busy here!” She said. In answer to her the castle’s defence systems suddenly booted up and a ray of beams burst out from the particle barrier, destroying many of the Galra battle ships. “The Galra droids have already infiltrated the lower levels. I’m locked in the control room.”

“Where’s Coran?” Lance demanded. He turned his Lion around so wildly he almost spun out of control and sent it flying back towards Allura’s castle. “He has Keith! Where is he?”

“He was bringing Keith up from the observatory floor, but the entire castle is on lock down,” Allura said. “I can’t reach him.”

Lance’s heart leapt into his throat. A storm of awful images and thoughts swelled through his mind before he could stop them. He imaged some brute of a soldier ripping Keith from them, from _him,_ and taking him back to the Galra Empire. He could only guess what Zarkon would do with a Paladin stuck in such a vulnerable state. Kill, torture, brainwash – it made Lance sick to his stomach with worry. 

“I’m going back,” he said.

“Lance-” Shiro started.

“No,” Lance interrupted, voice firm. “I’m going back. Keith is my responsibility. I won’t let him get hurt!”

There was more he wanted to say, but he couldn’t. The words got stuck in his throat. Keith was more than just his responsibility; he was the person Lance liked, and the person Lance relied on. They were _boyfriends,_ though that word didn’t feel like it could possibly ever mean as much as he felt. He needed to protect Keith and make sure he was alright. Nothing else meant as much to him as that.

His Lion passed through the castle’s particle barrier with ease. Pidge and Hunk came into view a moment later. They had taken out most of the battle ships and were working on the last ones that were attacking the ship when Lance shot past them. He clumsily directed his Lion into the hanger bays, bumping into the wall in his haste before disembarking. There were ships strewn across the hanger but none seemed active.

Something didn’t feel right.

He forced his way in through the half-closed hanger bay doors, held open the wing of a crashed battle ship. The hallways were empty as he ran through them. He reached for his bayard and groaned when he realised he’d left it in his Lion. _Whatever, I’ll improvise._

“Allura, have you found Coran?” He asked.

“Come towards the control room,” she said, “something is happening. I’m overriding the lock down sequence now.”

The locks on the doors around him hissed open. He passed the common room and the hallway that led to the dining room before finally reaching the foyer before the control room.  
It was complete chaos.

The first thing Lance heard was Keith screaming. They were high wails, clogged down with wet sobs and breathless gasps for air. He was held too tightly in Coran’s arm as Coran held up a blade to the Galra soldiers cornering him. As the door to the control slid open Allura dashed out, her own sharp blade clutched in her hand.

But Lance couldn’t spare any thoughts to them. Keith’s cries rung in his head like the tolling of a heavy bell, over and over. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before and it was utterly dizzying. He’d picked up a discarded Galra weapon before realising what he was doing and dashed forwards, using it to thump one of the soldiers over the head. It dropped into a crumpled heap of metal at his feet.

But he wasn’t fast enough. Keith was wrenched from Coran’s hold and held by one of the Galra soldiers, screaming all the louder for it. A low buzzing had begun to fill Lance’s ears and it was like his mind went completely blank.

He only realised he’d shot the weapon in his hands when he felt the sharp pulse of recoil shake his bones. He was far too close to the target and splatters of the blast ricocheted in all directions. He shot again, twice, and the loud clatter of droids hitting the floor echoed through the hallway. He didn’t care of flecks of the blaster burned his skin, and when a soldier swung at him, drawing blood from his cheek, he simply swung back.

The soldier holding Keith fell and then Keith was in his arms again. He held him tightly, panting, his ears ringing, when suddenly a purple coloured shockwave thrummed through the room. From behind him one of the soldiers had activated some sort of device and where the soldier lay slumped a void abruptly appeared. Lance jerked as it sucked in all that was around it, his feet slipping out from under him.

“Coran!” He shouted, voice hoarse with fear. “Take him!”

He all but threw Keith at Coran as a metallic hand latched around his ankle. His chin hit the floor hard when his leg was yanked out from under him and then hands were pressing against the back of his neck and his arms, rendering him immobile. Keith screamed again, a desperate cry of his name, but fingers sealed his mouth shut.

“Lance!” Allura shouted. Her hair was whipping wildly around her face from the force of the void and she was slowly being dragged towards it too, but not enough that she would fall into it.

Lance’s eyes met Keith’s. Those big eyes of his were red and watery and he looked like he’d screamed himself silent. A tightness overcame Lance’s chest because he’d _failed._

The soldiers pulled him through the void and then it was gone.

 

He landed on a cold, metal floor with a loud groan. His head was ringing and his ears were popping and it took him a moment to realise that yes, all his limbs were still where he had left them. 

He was on a Galra ship. He’d recognise the tacky, purple interior anywhere. 

A clawed hand grasped his throat and hauled him upright. He didn’t recognise the Galra Commander that stared down at him, but he thought they might have crossed paths in the past before. He had those freaky yellow eyes and furry, pointed ears that all the important Galra soldiers showed off. 

“You’re going to tell me everything, little lion,” he chuckled, his grip tightening.

Lance snarled. _“Nunca voy a decir nada!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Puedes tratar? Por mí?_ \- Will you try? For me?  
>  _Español_ \- Spanish  
>  _Voy a volver, lo prometo_ \- I will return, I promise  
>  _Nunca voy a decir nada!_ \- I'll never tell you anything!
> 
> Please correct me if anything should be fixed ^^" Online translators aren't really reliable and I was in such a rush tonight I couldn't ask anyone for help ^_____T


	9. Awakening

They took him to a dark, heavily locked cell. Even when Lance banged on the door it was so thick he hardly felt it reverberate. There were no windows, but the door had a small square cut out towards the top for soldiers on guard to check in and pass food through. The only furniture in the room was a single metal bench jutting out from the wall; there was no mattress or blanket, and it was ridiculously painful to sit on, so Lance resigned himself to the floor.

He supposed it didn’t help that he was chained to that stupid bench. 

The cuffs they’d put him in reminded him of the ones that flew out of Allura’s dining table. These ones were thicker, however, and they glowed purple rather than blue. They weighed down his wrists more than he’d thought they would and he was sure his skin would bruise.

He couldn’t tell how much timed passed while he was stuck in the cell, but he quickly learned the routes of the patrol soldiers. It was the only stimulus he had other than his thoughts – to listen to their footsteps and count the seconds it took for the next ones to stalk by.

It must have been hours before someone came for him. He didn’t protest when they unchained him from the bench and hauled him up, their clawed, armoured hands digging painfully into his arms.

Every time he was taken away like that, he was sent to the Galra Commander. He didn’t know the guy’s name and no one ever called him anything other than “Commander” but Lance thought it was intentional. They were limiting his access to them and therefore their information; it was probably why he was chained to the bed too, so that he couldn’t see out the window (also, to keep him in place, because that’s what people did to their prisoners, apparently). 

When he was dragged in front of the Commander, it was always for the same reason; they wanted him to betray Voltron and the Alteans. It was always the same questions, over and over, as if they actually expected Lance to finally answer them.

“How is Voltron formed?”

“Where is the castle located?”

“Who are the Paladins?”

They were questions he would never give the answer to, and that remained true even when they started to beat him. He would never betray his family and put them in danger just to spare himself some pain. His comfort was not worth their safety.

He tried to sleep as much as he could in between his interrogation sessions. The floor was hard and cold and made his back ache and eventually he became so exhausted he gave in and slept on the metal bed, his arm propped under his head to cushion it. He was glad he was wearing his suit, even if his helmet had been taken; it offered him insulation against the pressing cold of the cell room. 

The food was worse than the sleeping arrangements. He even started to miss Coran’s cooking. He didn’t know what sort of alien food they were giving him but it tasted like how he imaged concrete tasted and was just as tough. There was no way he could eat it, and he bet that if the Galra Commander didn’t kill him out of sheer frustration first, then starvation would.

Or maybe the beatings. They hurt. His face was undoubtedly bruised and one of his eyes had been swollen shut for a while and those goddamn claws cut right through the fabric parts of his suit to dig into his skin. He hoped that the cuts didn’t get infected, but he wasn’t good with medical things like that and probably wouldn’t be able to tell.

Sometimes his mind strayed to the Paladins. Actually, it did that a lot. He really hoped Keith was alright. He didn’t know what he’d do if Keith had was injured or sick when he returned, because he would return eventually. Keith might even be regrown – who knew how long Lance had been stuck starving in the Galra cells? Not him, that’s who.

He hoped the others were alright, too. He knew they were looking for him; he just had to wait until they found him. They would surely find him soon, right? They must be looking for him. He could only dream that they’d find him sooner rather than later.

 

Lance let out a groan as his head bounced on the floor. His shoulder took the brunt of the impact but he was too weak to shield his head and he could feel a bruise spreading down his temple because of it. He was still wheezing from being strangled – it seemed to be the Commander’s favourite thing to do when he was upset. He’d just grab Lance by the throat and haul him up until he was blue in the face. 

Still, Lance wouldn’t say anything. Sure, he’d sometimes hiss out something in Spanish just to piss them off, which admittedly wasn’t the best idea, but it sure did feel good.

“If the little lion won’t talk, then maybe one of his kin will,” Commander snarled as he pressed his boot down on Lance’s chest, pinning him to the floor. “Maybe we should make a trip down to Earth and see if the others are as resilient as he is.”

Lance’s blood ran cold. He knew that the Commander would do horrific, violent things to his family to get what he wanted, and even if it were only to amuse himself he would be completely relentless. Just the idea of his _Mamá_ or one of his little siblings being hurt made him feel sick to his stomach. 

“Now there’s fire in your eyes,” Commander sneered, pressing down harder with his foot. “Do you not like the idea of me visiting your planet? Your _family?_ I’m sure they’ll be very hospitable.”

 _“Nunca conseguirás lo que quieres,”_ Lance snarled. He would never let the Galra hurt his family, even if it meant suffering in their cells for the rest of his life.

“You won’t be able to hide behind your language forever,” Commander said. He stepped away and turned his back on Lance like he was less than the gunk on the bottom of his shoe. “Take him away. No food, no water.”

When he was thrown back into his room, chained to the bench and finally left alone, he let himself wince. He wrapped his arm around his chest like it could stop the ache and carefully smoothed his fingers over his cheek, feeling for anything swollen or cut. The skin was mostly unbroken but it was dry and rough, very unlike how he usually kept it. His body was already starting to fall apart, it seemed.

Tiredly, he leaned against the wall. The Commander had really pressed down hard on him today and he could already feel his skin bruising. It felt like his ribs would turn blue from the ache he felt. With his suit’s armour keeping everything pulled in tight he felt like he could hardly breathe. 

“Please come find me soon, guys,” he groaned, tilting his head back. “This really _sucks.”_

 

One night – at least, he thought it was at night – his cell door suddenly opened. He’d been so tired he hadn’t even heard them approach. He hadn’t ever really put up a fight against them, knowing he couldn’t win, and so he didn’t then, either. 

They didn’t take him to the usual room, however. Instead they took him down an isolated corridor where all the doors were both heavily locked and incredibly thick. One was unlocked by a soldier escorting them, and Lance couldn’t help but jerk back as cold air washed out of the room. 

“Where the hell are we-” Lance started.

“Keep your mouth shut, runt,” one of the soldiers ordered as he tossed Lance far into the room. He was grabbed by another as soon as he was let go and forced into a chair where he was chained down again. Tersely he pulled on the restraints, but there was no give in them whatsoever and it only served to chafe at his sore wrists more. 

This had to be another one of their interrogation methods, then. It didn’t matter.

He could withstand it.

 

He could not withstand it. What they did _hurt_ and he just wanted it to stop. They drew blood and bruised his skin and threatened everyone he loved. They told him lies that sounded like the truth and they didn’t give him any food or water. He was cold and tired but he wasn’t granted permission to sleep. 

He wanted to tell them everything they wanted to know.

But he didn’t.

 

A low rumbling began to echo around the ship. It roused Lance from the state of half-sleep he’d fallen into. He hadn’t been moved out of the interrogation room since they took him from his cell, but they’d taken the chair away from him. Instead they strung his arms up above his head, handcuffed to a chain that kept him from relaxing them or lowering them.

At first he thought he’d imagined it. He’d done that more than a dozen times since being moved to this room and he didn’t want to get his hopes up anymore. This room must have been close to the engines or the loading bay to be experiencing so much noise.

But the rumbling didn’t stop this time. He blinked open his eyes and tried to listen harder but found it too strenuous. Maybe they were transferring cargo and changing crews. There were so many things that could mean that much noise that he felt stupid thinking it could be anything out of the ordinary. 

Then, suddenly, there was something out of the ordinary – a roar. And not just any old roar, either but a _Lion’s_ roar. He’d know that noise anyway.

A desperate cry of relief escaped him. Maybe he’d finally get out of here. 

Explosions began to ripple through the ship as he assumed the battle started. The chains holding him upright rattled ominously and he could hear the soldiers running through the corridor in groups, getting prepared to disembark in battle ships. None opened his door.

“Hello?” He shouted, voice croak. “I’m in here!”

A fist banged on the door. “Keep quiet, runt!” A soldier snarled.

Lance shrunk into his shoulders, drawing as far away from the door as he could. It was an automatic reaction, one that made him feel pathetic. He wasn’t afraid of them.

He was just tired.

Eventually the door did open, but it was the Commander than walked in. He pulled the chains from the ceiling like they were made from wet paper but did not give Lance’s arms any slack. Without care he yanked Lance from the room, dragging him along like a leashed dog. Lance struggled to keep up in his fatigue.

He was dragged to a podium where his arms were pulled up even higher. His shoulders ached at the movement and his knees buckled. Distantly, he thought he could hear his name being called, but the ringing from the explosions muddled his mind. 

“You want your cub back?” The Commander leered, shaking the chains cruelly. “Fine. Here, take him. We’ve done all that we need to.”

And then Lance’s feet abruptly left the ground. He tumbled over the side of the podium and found himself falling through the air. For a moment, it felt like he’d fallen through the surface of the ocean, and that thought comforted him.

But it wasn’t the ocean, and no soft bed of sand awaited him.

“Lance!” A voice screamed.

Yellow, mechanic jaws closed around him. He groaned in pain as his back hit the metal, but then he was being pulled into warm arms and a large hand was touching his face. Hunk was shouting and Lance couldn’t hear him, but it was definitely his kindest friend holding him.

“I knew you’d come,” he croaked.

Then everything finally went dark.

 

Waking up was, oddly enough, a familiar process. It was cold, and then it wasn’t as the temperature bled away in wisps of frozen fog. He took in a gasping breath and revelled in the easiness of it and how the fresh air soothed his tight lungs. After that, he stepped out of the healing pod.

And right into somebody’s waiting arms.

“Keith?” He croaked. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” Keith whispered. His fingers tightened in the back of Lance’s shirt and it was only his grip that kept Lance upright. “What were you thinking, huh? Getting yourself captured like that.”

A weird tremble shook through Lance’s shoulders, and he groaned quietly. He didn’t want to think about it. Sure, the healing pod could fix the outside, but what was stuck in his head still pained him. “Couldn’t help it,” he said, voice hoarse.

“I know,” Keith said. He was silent for a moment. “How’d you know it was me?”

Lance laughed weakly. “I’d recognise your stupid mullet anywhere.”

 

He’d been gone for eleven days. It had felt like so much more, and a part of him protested at the period he spent on the Galra ship being confined to such a small time slice. It had to be more, didn’t it? But it couldn’t be.

When he was rested and Hunk had finally convinced him to eat something, Shiro had told him everything that had happened. After he’d been sucked into that void, the Galra fleet had disappeared. Any of their leftover droids were disposed of and then Allura guided the ship to a new, safe galaxy where they could take stock of the damage.

Keith had been so stressed they’d had to sedate him and put him in the healing pod, where he had remained for a total of ten days. On the tenth Allura had declared that he’d fully regrown and that there would be no negative side effects to waking him. She had been right, and when Keith had been pulled from the healing pod, he was perfectly fine.

Lance had never heard anything so reassuring. _Keith was fine,_ Allura had said. Her words settled over Lance’s head with a comforting calmness in tow.

Pidge had been the one to locate the Galra ship where Lance was being held. He’d decoded all of the droids they’d had on board until he found the locations of the main fleets, like the one the Commander controlled. Then, using Blue, they’d tracked the signal that came from his helmet.

“We didn’t know the Lions could do that,” Pidge had explained. “But it’s like the same way the Lions are connected to the Bayards. The signal only goes one direction – from the Lion to the helmet. There was no way the Galra could track us with it, but we could find them. It was a matter of matching the coordinates as closely as possible to the ones I’d gotten from the droid. We got your helmet back, too.”

The Lions never ceased to amaze Lance. He’d have to thank Blue later, when he got the chance. 

Keith was silent during the explanation, but he stood behind Lance the entire time and did not take a seat. His hand rested high on Lance’s side, reached around the back of his chair, like he was afraid that if he let go Lance would disappear again. Lance wasn’t entirely convinced himself that he wouldn’t do so and was incredibly grounded by the feel of Keith’s palm splayed across his ribs. He’d have to thank Keith, too.

He couldn’t eat much, barely even half of the bowl Hunk had given him. He knew Hunk was worried about him, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He was sure he would hurl if he ate another bite, so he didn’t. It was pretty clear that he was too frazzled to talk anymore so the others simply returned to talking amongst themselves, and Lance was glad for it. He enjoyed listening to them.

Keith followed him to bed that night. Perhaps it was better to say that Lance had gotten a panicky look on his face when the subject came up, and Keith had seemed equally reluctant to part ways for the night. 

He cradled Lance in his arms as they laid together on Lance’s bed. “I’ll remember it this time,” Lance had joked. Sure, his voice didn’t have the usual teasing tone, but it was the thought that counted. He just wanted to feel alright again and in the past, joking his way through upsetting situations had always done the trick.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Keith asked. His breath was warm on the back of Lance’s neck. “I… I want to know what they did to you.”

“Why?” Lance asked, voice small.

Keith hesitated. “It can’t possibly be worse than what I imagined you were going through while I was completely useless.”

Tears sprung to Lance’s eyes. He didn’t expect them, and turned his face into his pillow to hide them. “I can’t say it,” he whispered. “Not tonight.”

Keith’s arm tightened around him. He pushed himself upright and leaned over Lance, his eyes searching Lance’s face. Lance turned his head out of the pillow to look at him – Keith’s eyes were just as dark and soulful as they had been when he was a baby, and Lance didn’t know why he’d never noticed before. 

A pitiful whine left his throat. His eyes burned with tears and he couldn’t stop them, not even when Keith urged him to roll onto his back so he could press himself against Lance, chest-to-chest. Keith’s fingers pressed at his cheeks, wiping away the wetness he found there. And even though Lance was crying, he leaned down to press their lips together. Once, then twice, then again and again he kissed Lance, chasing away the fear with all the affection he could offer. 

“They did something to my head,” Lance finally gasped. “I can feel it, sitting back there, waiting to come out. They made me into a monster.”

“You’re not a monster,” Keith whispered, kissing him again. He reached over Lance to pull something out from under Lance’s bed – it was a photo album. “Sorry, I went through your stuff when you… Weren’t here. Pidge helped me put this together with all the photos you took.”

Lance regarded it carefully. “You were a cute kid,” he said, voice watery. “I wanted to make sure you had photos.”

Keith smiled, that soft, rare smile of his that made him look twice as handsome as usual. He set aside the book behind the pillows and laid down again. “You’re not a monster,” he said. “You could never be one.”

Lance sniffled. He didn’t believe Keith, but he didn’t think Keith was lying, either. He didn’t say anything about it. _“Te amo,”_ he whispered. 

Keith wiped away Lance’s tears again, and brushed his hair away from his forehead. It was a warm gestured, one that was followed by a gentle kiss to the forehead. _“También te amo.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Nunca conseguirás lo que quieres_ \- You'll never get what you want.  
>  _Te amo_ \- I love you.  
>  _También te amo_ \- I love you, too.
> 
> [cute fanart](https://twitter.com/emuyhn/status/760717650951606274) by emuyhn ^//w//^


	10. Epilogue

“Just try to remember anything you can, Lance,” Shiro said. His hands were resting on top of one of Lance’s, which he had stretched out across the table. “Whatever you can tell us will be helpful, no matter how inconsequential you think it may be. Just take it slowly.”

Lance swallowed heavily. His leg was bouncing with jitters and even when he tried to stop it he couldn’t. Keith was sitting wedged behind him on the chair, his arms slung low around Lance’s waist. Like usual, his touch was comforting, and grounding. He reminded Lance of where he was and not where he’d been. Lance’s other hand was sandwiched between Hunk’s. 

“Where do I start?” Lance asked nervously.

“From the beginning,” Shiro said. “Where did you end up at on the other side of the void?”

“On one of their ships,” Lance answered.

“The same one we found you on?”

Lance nodded.

“Who spoke to you first?”

“They… They never said his name,” Lance said, frowning, “but they called him Commander. He didn’t wear a helmet. He’s the one they always took me to.”

“So he led the interrogation,” Shiro summarised. “Do you remember what they wanted to know?”

“They wanted to know about Voltron, and about where the castle is located,” he said. He hesitated, but Shiro and the others did not rush him, so he eventually continued. “They wanted to know details about the Paladins.”

Shiro frowned. “About us?”

Lance nodded again. “Your names, where you’re from, how you pilot the Lions… They know our families are on Earth. They- they said that they’d find our families, that they’d…”

“It’s alright, Lance,” Shiro interrupted. “I understand.”

He breathed out heavily, and nodded. “Was I really only there for eleven days?”

“Yes,” Shiro answered. “Did it feel like longer?”

“Yeah,” Lance nodded. “I was in a cell with no windows for a while, and then they moved me to a different room.”

“Tell me about the cell, first,” Shiro said. “What do you remember about it?”

“There were no windows,” Lance repeated, “but there was a hole in the door that the guards passed food in through. There was a metal bench that they chained me to.”

“Do you remember how frequently the guards came past?”

Lance nodded. “I couldn’t hear anything else but them.”

“How regularly did they give you food?”

Lance faltered. “I don’t know,” he said. “There wasn’t a pattern to it. I couldn’t... I don’t know when the day started and when it ended.”

“What did they feed you?”

“I don’t know,” Lance repeated, voice quiet. “It tasted bad. I didn’t eat it. The Commander stopped giving me food and water when I wouldn’t give him any information.”

Keith stiffened, but made no comment. His fingers rubbed soothing circles into Lance’s stomach. He clearly didn’t like what he was hearing.

“Tell me about the second room they moved you too,” Shiro said. “What was it like?”

“Really dark,” Lance said. “At first they chained me to a chair but they took it away and attached the chain to the ceiling instead.”

“You couldn’t sit down? Or relax your arms?” Hunk asked, eyes wide and horrified.

Lance shook his head. 

“Why did they move you from your cell?” Shiro asked. “Did they ever mention anything about it?”

He shook his head again. “No, I… I can’t remember.” _Why can’t I remember? It only just happened. I can remember them hitting me and questioning me, but nothing else? That doesn’t make any sense._

“That’s alright, Lance,” Shiro said. He squeezed Lance’s hand, drawing his attention away from the table top. “I know this may be hard, but can you tell me what they did? I’m a little worried.”

A small frown came to Lance’s face again. “Why?”

Shiro sighed. “The Galra handed you over a little too easily. There weren’t as many guard ships as we expected, either. I’m worried about you.”

Lance winced. He hadn’t felt right ever since he got back from the Galra ship. Sometimes when he slept at night he woke and there were flashes of purple stamped into his eyes. He thought they were just nightmares, but if Shiro was worried… Maybe he should mention it, but he didn’t. He didn’t want to tell them anything that had happened. 

“They just… Tried to get answers,” he eventually said. “They told me things that I thought- thought were _real._ It sounded real.”

“You don’t need to talk about it,” Keith said.

The look Shiro gave him over Lance’s shoulder said otherwise, but he didn’t argue with Keith. The tension in the room made Lance shrink into his shoulders. “I feel like I’m missing something,” he admitted, voice quiet. 

“How so?” Shiro asked.

Lance licked his lips nervously. “I can clearly remember them hurting me, but when they weren’t, I don’t know what happened.”

Shiro sat up straight. “Did that happen every day?”

“No, I can remember sitting in the cell. It only happened in the second room,” Lance said. His head was starting to hurt from thinking about it. Really hurt. “I can’t… Can’t really remember it, only the chain, and the chair.”

It was odd. He’d spent a lot of time in that room, hadn’t he? Days. He’d stared at those walls until his brain had turned to mush and yet he couldn’t even recall their colour. What had happened to him? Everything else seemed so clear; in fact, he was sure he would never forget it.

“What did they want to know, Lance?” Shiro asked. 

His voice was gentle, but Lance felt it like a harsh prod aimed straight into his mind. He hung in his head, frowning hard, and tried to remember. He’d just answered that question, hadn’t he? The questions hadn’t changed during the entire duration of his stay. Why was Shiro asking him that again? “They wanted to know about Voltron,” he said.

_Tell me about Voltron._

“What else?” Shiro asked. His gentle voice was warping into something deep and rough and foreign. It made Lance’s breath hitch.

_What else do you know?_

“Lance?”

He lifted a hand to clutch his head, hunching over. 

_How do you know this is real, little lion? Did I not tell you I’d make you tell me what I want, one way or the other? Look at me, Paladin._

“Lance, look at me.”

He looked up. A Galra face leered back at him, yellow eyes sharp and invasive. It knew his name. Before, they’d only called him Paladin or prisoner, and dehumanizing nicknames like little lion and Voltron cub were reserved exclusively for Commander. But now they knew his name. 

With a start, he realised there were chains around his waist. He was in that chair again, tied down like a rabid animal. His heart fell into his stomach as he realised he was trapped. He had to get out. Who knew what the Galra were doing to his head? 

“Lance-” the Galra started again.

“No,” Lance cried, thrashing against his chains. _“Nunca conseguirás lo que quieres! Déjame ir!”_

There was another shout of his name, but he broke free of the chains and violently overturned the table in front of him with all his might. When had a table been brought in? The sound of its metal supports being torn from the ground with way more strength than he should have ever had rocked him to the core. He stumbled back from it, frantically clawing at his head. He wasn’t that strong. There was no way he could be. There had never been a table in the room.

He blinked several times and the horrified faces of his friends stared back at him. The table, permanently welded into the floor, had been wrenched free. Tangled spines of metal were all that remained of its supports. All the food and the table runner had been carelessly knocked to the floor, and anyone sitting across from Lance had been pushed from their chairs. They could have been crushed. 

Lance’s head spun. He couldn’t breathe properly. Why were they looking at him like that? He wasn’t a monster, he wasn’t…

He glanced at his hands, but they did not look like they were his own anymore. His nails were sharp and pointed, longer than they had ever been, and his knuckles and wrists were stained with purple. Galra purple. 

_“Que me esta pasando?”_ He whimpered, his knees buckling out from under him. The ringing in his head was still there and he clamped his hands over his ears, trying to block it out. _“Hazlo parar, por favor…”_

He was a monster. He was exactly what they hated, wasn’t he? 

“Lance, calm down.”

Cool, pale hands gripped his and coaxed them away from his ears. Keith’s grip was tight on him as he crouched in front of Lance, his face set in determination. Lance was crying in an instant, lungs tight and burning for oxygen. “I’m a monster,” he sobbed.

“You’re not,” Keith said. His voice was firm and final and Lance knew he couldn’t argue with Keith, not this time. Not even when Keith brought his purple-stained hands up to press a kiss to his knuckles and mumble, _“Te amo.”_

 

Lance confined himself to his bedroom for the rest of the day. The expressions of his friends – of Allura and Coran and Pidge in particular, who had been sitting where he’d thrown the table – were burned behind his eyes. Just thinking about it made him sick to his stomach.

Keith didn’t leave him. Even when Lance huddled against the wall, sullenly facing away from Keith, Keith only rested against him, somehow managing to squeeze an arm around Lance’s waist, his cheek against Lance’s back. Eventually, Lance grabbed onto his sleeve, trying to show that he appreciated Keith’s attention even when his words failed him.

Towards dinner time, Shiro came to find them. He brought food for both Lance and Keith and set it down on Lance’s desk before taking a seat on the edge of Lance’s bed. During the day Keith had eventually managed to entice Lance away from the wall and instead they now sat shoulder-to-shoulder, their legs dangling off the bed. Lance had only done so after his nails had returned to normal and the Galra purple had receded from his skin, leaving it its usual brown colour.

“Lance, how are you feeling?” Shiro asked. 

“Alright,” Lance said, voice hoarse. He was not alright, but he was better than before.

Shiro placed a comforting hand on top of his head. “You can talk to me if you need to,” he said quietly. “You know that, right? I might understand what you’re going through, and even if I don’t, it doesn’t matter. Just tell me. We’re a team, you hear me? None of us will ever turn you away.”

“You should,” he whispered. “I could hurt you. I don’t know what they did to me.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Shiro said. “I promise, Lance. Nothing they’ve done to us so far hasn’t been reversible. They won’t take you away from us again.”

Lance nodded. Like always, he believed Shiro. There was no way Shiro would ever lie to him, to any of them, and if he did then he would have a good damn reason for it. “I don’t want to hurt anyone,” he said.

“I know,” Shiro said. He pulled Lance into a hug, his hands splayd wide like he could protect more of Lance that way, and he breathed in deeply enough for Lance to feel it. “I know, and you won’t. It’s my job to protect you, to protect all of you, and I failed. I couldn’t keep you safe while you tried to care for Keith and a lot of that blame falls to my shoulders.”

“It doesn’t,” Lance protested.

“It does, Lance,” Shiro interrupted. “This isn’t your fault, alright? Don’t blame yourself for any of this, or I’ll just feel worse.”

Lance huffed weakly. “That’s cheating.”

Shiro chuckled, and drew away. He ruffled Lance’s hair once. “Eat your dinner and then get some rest, alright? You too, Keith. Then come to breakfast in the morning.”

“We will,” Keith answered.

“Thanks, Shiro,” Lance said quietly. He felt better now, even if just a little. It had always been hard to rebuke Shiro’s reasoning, and now was no different. 

Shiro left them and Keith got up to get their dinner before pointedly ordering Lance to eat. He was really hungry and he didn’t have the heart to deny Keith so he did as was asked. He could tell that Hunk had cooked everything tonight, even though he usually had help from Coran. All of the food in his bowl were things that Lance had made a point of favouring in the past. He was almost finished the bowl when Keith spoke.

“You won’t leave me, right?” He asked quietly. He didn’t look away from his bowl, where his spoon lay in his limp hand.

Lance’s eyes flew comically wide open. “N-no!” He spluttered, heart racing. “Why? Do… do you want me to?”

“No!” Keith shook his head. “No, I was just… I don’t want you to think that this changes anything.”

 _This_ was Lance’s monster problem. He winced, and looked away. “I thought it might,” he said. “Change things, that is. I don’t really expect you to stay with me.”

“You’re not getting rid of me,” Keith snorted. He didn’t sound as confident as he usually did, like he was actually afraid Lance might reject him. Might want to reject him for something other than his protection. He sounded like he was afraid Lance didn’t – or wouldn’t – love him.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth. “Good,” he said, though he sounded just as hesitant as Keith did. “I don’t want you to leave me, either.”

It was probably as close to a mushy, chick-flic moment they were going to get, and as they both finished off their meal, the tension eventually dissipated. Above all else, even sometimes the other Paladins, Lance valued Keith’s comfort. It wasn’t always _let’s talk and share feelings_ or _let me hug you until you feel better_ with him. Sometimes it was just this – _I’m going to sit beside you and be quiet and I’ll be here if you need anything._

“When Commander was interrogating me,” Lance started, hesitant.

“The Commander,” Keith corrected him. “He does not control you.”

Lance nodded. He hadn’t realised he’d been calling the Commander _Commander,_ like he followed his orders. “When the Commander was interrogating me,” he began again, “he told me a lot of things to scare me into cooperating. He said he’d make me believe I was back here, and that you were safe, that I was safe. But it would all be a lie.”

Keith frowned. “You are back,” he said, reaching out to hold Lance’s hand firmly. “I cradled you in my arms.”

It was a stupid comment, but it sparked a warmth in Lance’s chest like nothing else ever did. He laughed, just quietly, and smiled down at his hands. “I know,” he said. “I just can’t decide if this is real or not. I can’t remember the difference. Like… the idea that I’m back here doesn’t stick in my head. I’m scared I’ll lash out again if I forget that.”

Keith edged closer, and rearranged Lance’s arms so he could squeeze himself into Lance’s lap. “I’ll make you remember,” he said, holding Lance’s cheeks between his palms. “I can do that, can’t I? I help, right?”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, you do,” he whispered. “We have a bond.”

Keith gave him a dry look, but there was amusement in his eyes. “It’s different than before,” he said, “isn’t it? I’m more aware of you.”

“Me too,” Lance said. “You know, when you were a baby you wandered away from Coran and found me all the way across the ship.”

“Coran told me. I kind of remember that, you know,” Keith said. “I remember being a child. You were crying that day.”

Lance blinked several times. “Yeah, I guess I was.”

Keith tangled his fingers in the short hair at the back of Lance’s head. “Don’t cry anymore,” he whispered.

He didn’t want to cry anymore, but he didn’t want to bottle anything up, either. He supposed he just wanted everything to be better. “I’m still scared,” he told Keith.

“I know,” Keith answered. “I am too. We’ll fix everything, alright? The only thing that doesn’t need fixing is this.”

To further his point, he pressed a chaste kiss to Lance’s lips. “I can’t believe the first time you kissed me I was sobbing like a child,” Lance said light-heartedly.

Keith huffed. “I went through all the trouble of learning how to say _I love you_ in your language so that I could kiss you properly and this is how you repay me,” he teased. Even so, he kissed Lance again, because the language didn’t matter. “Want to go through the photo album?”

Lance smiled. “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Nunca conseguirás lo que quieres!_ \- You'll never get what you want!  
>  _Déjame ir!_ \- Let me go!  
>  _Que me esta pasando?_ \- What's happening to me?  
>  _Hazlo parar, por favor…_ \- Make it stop, please...  
>  _Te amo_ \- I love you
> 
> Thank you for all the support I've received for this series! I'm really glad there was so much interest in it, and that so many people helped me with the Spanish parts ^//w//^ This ending is quote open, so I'm not opposed to continuing it, but if I did, where would you like to see it go? I have some ideas, but it would nice to have other opinions, too ^^ If you have any other requests for this fandom, feel free to send them!
> 
> My [tumblr](http://milkteamiku.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/fairydens) are always open ^^


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